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How social media recounted the story of the latest India-Pakistan conflict · Global Voices
R Umaima Ahmed

Siblings waiting outside a closed shop in Hunza valley, in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Photo: Awais Yaqub, Everyday Pakistan on Instagram. Used with permission.
Following a military confrontation with India in the disputed Kashmir region in late February, which left both the countries on the brink of all-out war, citizens took to social media to share experiences, counter disinformation, and to call for peace.
Relations between the two countries soured after a terror attack on the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir on February 14 killed over 40 Indian soldiers. On February 26, India responded by bombing the village of Balakot, located inside the Pakistan-controlled area, which Pakistan retaliated by shooting down two Indian warplanes resulting in the death of two pilots and the capture of commander Abhinandan Varthman.
On March 1, Pakistan handed back Varthman to Indian officials as a goodwill gesture, with Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan inviting Delhi for talks.
The two nuclear-armed neighbours have experienced several episodes of military conflict in their 71 years of existence as independent countries. However, in the 21st century, social media plays a prominent role as both government actors and ordinary citizens on both sides of the border report events online minute by minute.
Within hours of the first signs of armed dispute, the hashtag #SayNoToWar was trending:
Watch this clip Indian Media. You, keyboard warriors & Modi are responsible of it.
She is not from Pakistan, she is wife of the second pilot Ninad whose plane was shot down when crossed LOC
See the pain of families of both sides who receive bodies of their loved ones #SayNoToWar pic.twitter.com/aq5Gcc4aSh
— Shama Junejo (@ShamaJunejo) March 2, 2019
After Pakistan closed its airspace, many people stranded in airports took to Twitter to report their predicament.
Pakistan's military still fears India would carry out punitive airstrikes. Since last week, Pakistan's airspace has remained closed to international overflights. And domestic flights are being restricted to a narrow western corridor, like this flight from Islamabad to Karachi. pic.twitter.com/q3hpM4HYdT
— Brahma Chellaney (@Chellaney) March 6, 2019
Pakistan's airspace remained closed for more than a week before gradually reopening for domestic traffic on March 1. Flights along certain routes are still restricted. India has also closed down four airports for a bief period.
The husband of writer and poet Mina Malik Hussain was also stranded:
My husband can’t come home because our airspace is closed. I’ve told the kids his flight is delayed. My MIL and I look at each other over their heads. I think of all the Army and Air Force wives and kids, here and across, and my stomach lurches. Stop this madness. #SayNoToWar
— Mina Malik-Hussain (@cyclestand4) February 28, 2019
Fatima Ali Haider, the founder of the Grief Directory, which supports victims of violent extremism, was stuck in Karachi for a week while on her way back from Bangkok. As a single mother, she had left her six-year-old daughter at home with her mother-in-law. I have spoken to her, and this is what she told me:
I got stuck in a foreign country and that also to attend a conference which was on a topic of relevance. I had left my daughter behind and it was an emotionally traumatic experience.
My daughter also wanted to know why I wasn’t able to come home and when I told her, she asked me why India and Pakistan couldn’t be friends since it was easier to be friends than enemies.
Omar Badi-uz-Zaman posted on Facebook about the ordeal faced by his mother’s teacher who was visiting Pakistan from India. After her sister passed away, she was unable to fly back to India, and train service had also been cancelled, Badi-uz-Zaman said.
Over several nights, people have heard and seen Pakistani Airforce's jets flying over the capital Islamabad. Microbiologist Zeea Hassan Talib and Anas Mallick tweeted about it:
Woke up at midnight by the sound of our thunderbird Jets hovering continiously and later due to the lightening & storm. One of the most frightening nights here in Islamabad. Stay safe Pakistan??
— Zeea Hasan (@ZeeaHasanTalib) March 7, 2019
Fighter jets and thunder of the weather, both roaring from the clouds of #Islamabad
— Anas Mallick (@AnasMallick) March 6, 2019
While people in Sialkot and parts of Karachi reportedly said they were told to stay indoors, the government has not issued an official statement.
Social media also proved to be a fertile ground for disinformation while individuals and organisations attempted to counter it. Sachee Khabar tweeted a story by Alt News:
Unrelated picture portrayed as Wg Cdr Abhinandan’s mother rejoicing his release, reports @AltNews: https://t.co/mzCFv6h6CX
— Sachee Khabar (@KhabarSachee) March 1, 2019

author: R Umaima Ahmed


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Japanese app that ‘translates’ wives’ words for husbands ignites fierce online backlash · Global Voices
Sarah Lee Stones

The Cope app encourage spouses to share responsibilities during child rearing, aiming to facilitate communication between spouses by having the mascot “Cope” act as an intermediary. Image from official Cope website, widely shared on social media.
A Japanese candy maker has been criticized for reinforcing conventional gender roles and facilitating emotional manipulation after launching an advertising campaign and creating a mobile app to help husbands “translate” what their wives are saying. Some of the promotional web content has since been taken down, but not before igniting a discussion that questions the campaign's assumptions about the biological differences between men and women.
Popular Osaka-based confectionery maker Ezaki Glico created the “Cope” app to accompany the launch of its ‘Co-Sodate Project (Co育てProject)’. ‘Co-Sodate’ is an adaptation of the Japanese word for child rearing, kosodate (子育て). The “co-” comes from the English words “communication”, “cooperation” and “co-parenting.”
According to Glico, the purpose of the project (besides advertising Glico products) is to “make sure all children who are born grow up healthily and rich in heart” (生まれてきてくれる子どもには、元気に、ココロ豊かなに育ってほしい!).
The campaign's free mobile “Cope” app allows spouses to exchange messages, read articles about pregnancy and child-rearing, and keep child-care records. According to the Asahi Shimbun, a local newspaper, the app was primarily developed by female employees at Glico, but the project was overseen by Ihoko Kurokawa, author of several books about relationships, including “How to Handle Your Wife” (妻のトリセツ, Tsuma no Torisetsu).
According to the Asahi Shimbun, the Cope app's advice for husbands includes how husbands can identify, interpret and decode “eight patterns” that occur when a wife becomes angry, “translating” the supposed true meaning of what's being said:
When she says, “It is meaningless for us to remain together,” the site says what she really means is, “How do you feel about me?”
When she says, “It is really hard to do this,” the site says she really wants to say, “Will you appreciate what I did?”
The Cope app soon attracted criticism on Twitter for its apparent dismissal of women's concerns.
#おしえてこぺhttps://t.co/yPbgVuDwHM
女の言葉なんか適当に共感して感謝してればいいという蔑視丸出しの広告で驚きました??
折角だし少し訂正してあげましたので、よかったら参考にしてみて下さいね? pic.twitter.com/EwSijkdrA7
— ?あらいぐま??? (@KUMA_ARAI_) February 20, 2019
Image reads: “It is really hard to do this,” does not equal, “Will you appreciate what I did?” but, “You should also do this.”
I was really shocked by this blatant display of disdain for women based on the notion that you don’t have to take what women say seriously, but just show some sympathy and gratitude as a gesture.
I've fixed it for you guys. Big improvement, don't you think?
The Cope website also explained how men might manipulate and divert conversations away from sensitive topics.
For example, if a woman asks, “What's more important to you, your job or your family?”, the Co-Sodate campaign suggested men respond with “I’m sorry for making you feel lonely,” and to rapidly change the subject to his own problems at work:
これって、「自分は家事育児の負担を回避しながら、かつ、妻に怒られないようにしたい」という非常に身勝手な男性の願望を叶えようとするアプリで、こんなものを開発すること自体、無神経、無責任極まる。
「夫(父親)も家事育児する」以外の解決などない。いい加減にわかれよ。#おしえてこぺ
— ladybug(てんとうむし) (@ladybug66890347) February 21, 2019
This app is no more than an easy way out for selfish men who want to avoid the responsibilities of housework and childcare, but don't want their wives to get angry with them. The developers themselves showed extreme insensitivity and irresponsibility in creating an app like this in the first place.
There's no solution other than husbands (and fathers) helping with housework and childcare. When are people going to get it?
Content since removed from the Co-Sodate website, but captured and preserved on several blogs, generalized that communication difficulties between men and women arise mostly due to differences in neurology:
脳を装置として見立ててみると、男性脳と女性脳では回路のかたちや信号の種類がちがうから、当然、おなじ入力に対しての出力も変わってくるよ。
As the male brain and the female brain are different in terms of the structure of the circuits and signals, their output will differ even if they get the same input.
The advice included generalizations such as:
男性脳には『察する機能』がついていないと思った方がいいよ！[…] 女性脳は何より共感を求めているの。
The male brain's ‘intuition function’ leaves much to be desired […]  Above all else, the female brain craves sympathy.
J-Cast News reported that the Co-Sodate campaign's assumptions about the differences between male and female brains were criticized for being unscientific.
Yuko Yotsumoto, a professor of cognitive neuropsychology at the University of Tokyo, criticized Co-Sodate's advice, arguing:
最近の研究では、『男女間には個人差を超えて一般化できるような脳の構造や機能の差はない』という説が有力です。したがって、これは事実だとは言えません。
Recent research indicates that the disparity deriving from individual differences is greater than any generalized disparity based on gender. Therefore, the assertions [made by the website] are not based on fact.
Yotsumoto added that any gender-based differences were not necessarily based on different “structure of the circuits and signals” as was claimed, but could be due to the influence of the environment.
『男女で同じ入力に対する出力に違いがある』ということは否定できませんが、その理由を脳の構造や回路に求めるのは間違っています。『男女がおかれた立場の違い、家庭生活における役割の違い』のほうが、大きな要因なのではないでしょうか？」「他の要因についての言及もせず、安易に『脳科学』に理由を帰属させることは浅慮であると私は考えます。
While I won't deny that the output of female and male brains will differ even if they get the same input, it's a mistake to put this difference down to different structure of circuits and signals. Perhaps it has more to do with the different positions men and women occupy, and the different roles they take on within the home. Rushing to attribute these differences to “brain science” without even considering any other potential causes is recklessly irresponsible.
Yotsumoto's interpretation is backed up by recent research conducted by other neuroscientists around the world, which reasons that the notion of the gendered brain has arisen out of “the need for a scientific account of women’s inferior status,” and serves to reinforce gender stereotypes.
In an opinion piece, freelance writer Ai Nakazaki criticizes the Co-Sodate website, pointing out how focusing on such gender stereotypes can downplay the importance of individual differences.
このジェンダーステレオタイプに基づいて、「男は～」「女は～」と語る表現は、至るところにあふれている。男は理論的で女は感情的、男は狩猟本能があり女は母性本能がある、男はニブくて女は鋭い、男は解決策を求めるが女は共感を求めているだけ……など典型的なものがいくつもある。しかし男も女も「人それぞれ」で、こうした分け方に何の意味もない。
We see this kind of gender stereotype-based language everywhere: “Men are like this” and “women are like that”. Men are logical and women are emotional, men have hunting instincts while women have maternal ones, men are emotionally clueless while women are intuitive… and other common preconceptions.
However, men and women are each individuals, and dividing them into two distinct categories like this is pointless.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Sarah Lee Stones


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Foreign domestic workers contribute to Hong Kong economy but lack access to basic financial services · Global Voices
Hong Kong Free Press

File photo: Tom Grundy/HKFP.
The following post is originally written by Jennifer Creery and published on Hong Kong Free Press on 6 March 2019. The edited version is republished on Global Voices under a content partnership agreement.
Foreign domestic workers contribute HK$98.9 billion (US$12.6 billion dollars) to the city’s economy, making up 3.9 percent of the GDP, according to a study released on March 5.
Despite this, the study also revealed that domestic workers were largely excluded from the local economy – only 18 percent owned a bank account and 85 percent had high levels of debt. A lack of financial knowledge and awareness of bank account regulations were identified as key barriers to accessing financial services.
Hong Kong’s figures contrast with Singapore and Malaysia, where migrant domestic workers contribute HK$64.37 billion and HK$7.06 billion to the respective economies. In Singapore, 51 percent have bank accounts whilst 34 percent are in debt. And in Malaysia, 86 percent own bank accounts and 65 percent are in debt.
The report, titled The Value of Care: Key Contributions of Migrant Domestic Workers to Economic Growth and Family Well-being in Asia, is the first time the economic contribution of migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong has been calculated. It was commissioned by consumer credit report company Experian and jointly presented with local NGO Enrich. The data was calculated by market research firm Frost & Sullivan according to the value domestic workers add based on the cost of their work (when paid at local rates) as well as their personal spending, and the time they free up to enable local women to join the workforce.
According to the findings, the largest contribution domestic workers offer to the local economy is childcare — valued at HK$40 per hour at an average of 3.85 hours per day. This totals HK$184,970.52 per year.
Photo from Hong Kong Free Press.
There were 369,651 foreign domestic workers living in Hong Kong at the end of 2017, with the number set to rise to 600,000 by 2047, according to the government. Lucinda Pike, Executive Director of Enrich said:
Domestic work is, in many ways, invisible and undervalued work that disproportionately falls on women, often migrants. We are thrilled that this research shows how the presence of domestic workers unlocks extra economic potential.
According to the study, migrant domestic worker employment increases the number of dual-income households by enabling local women to join the workforce. Only 49 percent of Hong Kong women aged 25 to 52, with children, would work if they did not have a domestic worker. This figure increases to 78 percent when they do.
But critics have said that, in spite of migrant domestic worker’s contribution to the local economy, they continue to face discrimination. Sringatin, the chairperson of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union, told Hong Kong Free Press:
The problem is migrant domestic workers are not recognised by the Hong Kong government as part of Hong Kong workforce and Hong Kong community…We are treated as foreigners, low-class workers and therefore the government has been pushing for policies and practices that exclude and isolate migrant workers from the whole Hong Kong population.
This is what we mean by modern-day slavery practices. And it is enforced by the Hong Kong government through policies and regulations.

author: Hong Kong Free Press


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Trying to follow the news in Venezuela? Here are a few sources you can trust · Global Voices
Marianne Díaz Hernández

Image by Venezuelan news outlet Efecto Cocuyo. Used with permission.
Since mid-January, when Juan Guaidó laid down an open challenge to the legitimacy of Nicolás Maduro's presidency, Venezuelans in the country and abroad have looked high and low for reliable information about what is really happening in their country.
¡Qué angustia, qué nervios, qué desesperación! pic.twitter.com/WXEHJ32cva
— EDO (@edoilustrado) February 23, 2019
So much anxiety! So much distress! So much despair!
Users have gone to the far edges of the internet to find trustworthy reporting on the political crisis, due to a lack of independent traditional media, along with widespread state censorship that has caused closures of key online and broadcast media outlets. Among those outlets that are still operating, here are a few that Global Voices’ community members recommend.
The dearly loved Arepita (“little arepa“, referring to the local corn-based snack cake) offers a daily summary of the complex and ever-changing situation, with a generous dose of notorious Venezuelan humour. Arepita is distributed in the form of an email newsletter — unlike a website, this is difficult for authorities to censor.
En cualquier parte del globo terráqueo ?, te contamos de tu Venezuela amada en código venezolano, emojis, un poquito de humor… y de vez en cuando, hasta con una canción. Somos un newsletter hecho con corazón. Suscripción gratuita❤ https://t.co/8lSX8Tfwtv
— Arepita (@SoyArepita) February 28, 2019
In any part of the globe ?, we tell you about your beloved Venezuela in Venezuelan code, emojis, a little bit of humour… and from time to time, even with a song. We are a newsletter made with heart. Free subscription ❤
Other news sites, such as Efecto Cocuyo (“Firefly Effect”), and a longstanding intellectual institution of the Venezuelan diaspora, the English-language Caracas Chronicles, have also turned to newsletters as a way to share their content with loyal readers without risking censorship.
With the forced end of the radio show he was a part of, Luis Carlos Díaz and Naky Soto, a veritable digital media power couple in the country, have taken to social networks and Patreon to spread daily videos explaining different aspects of the situation in an easy, didactic and shareable manner. Díaz is a long-time contributor to Global Voices.
Respondimos la pregunta de @marimaguita sobre “los retoños del chavismo/madurismo” y nos permitió hablar hasta del destino del dinero sucio tus tantos años de corrupción.
Mira el video completo en https://t.co/HjCDrniHgR pic.twitter.com/ALUPPkiObj
— Luis Carlos Díaz (@LuisCarlos) February 27, 2019
We answered @marimaguita's question about “the sprouts of chavismo / madurismo” and this allowed us to speak about the fate of dirty money from many years of corruption. Watch the full video…
Others have focused on helping readers to navigate the information overload. One group has been creating periodic reports in the form of easily shareable infographics that summarize the latest events, under the simple tagline “What is happening in Venezuela?”
¿Qué está pasando en #Venezuela? – #4M – Reporte a las 7:00 pm pic.twitter.com/cPQh3VCHE7
— Caps (@El_Caps) March 4, 2019
What is happening in #Venezuela? – # 4M – Report at 7:00 p.m.
Given the poor quality of internet access in the country, along with the constant misinformation that makes the Venezuelan web hard to navigate, these infographics have proven valuable for citizens trying to help their families and friends remain informed about the situation.
Les estoy mandando estás imágenes a mis conocidos que viven en zonas a las que les han cortado el internet. Cuando bajan a la ciudad o entran a un wifi, se enteran de todo rápido. Gracias a quienes los hacen. https://t.co/LDQEN5HabA
— Cuero Seco (E) (@capelaez) February 26, 2019
I am sending these images to my acquaintances who live in areas that have been cut off from the internet. When they go down to the city or enter a wifi, they find out everything quickly. Thanks to those who make them.
Other visible figures within the social media sphere have turned to WhatsApp and Telegram as a means to share reliable information with those who follow them. This is the case of the renowned telecommunications journalist, Fran Monroy, who currently keeps three WhatsApp groups for different purposes:
Abrimos 3 grupos de Whatsapp: 2 son unilaterales: UNo de información verificada, otro de nuestro programa @codigoabierto y un tercero para libre discusión de tecnología. Si quieres pertenecer a ellos, simplemente manda un DM y te mandamos la información. ¿Si va?
— Fran Monroy Moret (@fmonroy) February 17, 2019
We opened 3 WhatsApp groups: 2 are unilateral: One of verified information, another of our program @CodigoAbierto, and a third one for free technology discussion. If you want to belong to them, simply send a DM and we will send you the information. Ok?
Opposition political leaders are also producing their own media of sorts. While they are receiving ample attention from international media outlets, major national media groups give them little if any space to explain their positions. To reach their actual and potential supporters, they are instead using video and audio streams, Telegram and WhatsApp groups.
Despite the many attempts of state actors to disrupt online communication or influence online narratives, Venezuelans are finding ways to gather, organize and assess information on their own terms.

author: Marianne Díaz Hernández


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Digital journalist Luis Carlos Diaz is missing in Venezuela · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

“Where is Luis Carlos?” Image of the public online campaign shared by Provea. In the image they indicate the last time he had been contacted and the last time he tweeted.
On the evening of March 11, political commentator Naky Soto and wife of Venezuelan journalist and media activist Luis Carlos Diaz tweeted that he had been missing for five hours.
[Update] The Union of Press Workers (in Spanish, the SNTP) reported that Luis Carlos had been detained by the Bolivarian Intelligence Forces (SEBIN):
#URGENTE | Comision del Sebin confirma que el periodista Luis Carlos Diaz está detenido en ese organismo policial apuntan con armas a directivos a @mruizsilvera, @LuzMelyReyes, @LilaVanorio y a @FedericoBlackB #DondeEstaLuisCarlos #12Mar
— SNTP (@sntpvenezuela) March 12, 2019
URGENT A Sebin commission confirms that journalist Luis Carlos Díaz has been detained by that police organism. They pointed their weapons at journalist [and members of the Press Union] Marco Ruiz, Luz Mely Reyes and Federico Black.
Hours before, Soto had tweeted that Luis Carlos Díaz had been missing for five hours:
Estimados: perdí contacto con @LuisCarlos a las 5:30 de la tarde, cuando me dijo que venía a casa a descansar porque esta noche haría una jornada especial en @Unionradionet desde las 10:00 pm hasta las 5:00 am#DóndeEstáLuisCarlos
— Naky Soto (@Naky) 12 de marzo de 2019
Dear everyone: I lost contact with @LuisCarlos at 5:30 this afternoon, when he told me he was coming home to rest because he was going to do a special broadcast at @Unionradionet from 10:00 pm to 5:00 am #DóndeEstáLuisCarlos
.@LuisCarlos anda en bicicleta, pero desde las 5:30 pm no sé nada sobre él y:
– no está en la emisora
– no está en casa
– no ha tuiteado
– no contesta llamadas
– no contesta SMS ni mensajes en WhatsApp#DóndeEstáLuisCarlos
— Naky Soto (@Naky) 12 de marzo de 2019
@LuisCarlos is on his bike, but since 5:30 I've heard nothing from him and:
– he's not at the radio station
– he's not at home
– he hasn't tweeted
– he isn't answering calls
– he isn't answering SMS or WhatsApp messages
#DóndeEstáLuisCarlos
[Update] As members of SEBIN searched Diaz's and Soto's home, Luz Mely Reyes reported live from the scene. The SNTP also reported the incident:
#URGENTE | A esta hora, 2:30 am, comisión del Sebin llega a la residencia del periodista y activista de Ddhh, Luis Carlos Díaz, desaparecido desde las 5:30 pm #DondEstaLuisCarlos #12Mar
— SNTP (@sntpvenezuela) March 12, 2019
URGENT At this time, 3:30 am, a commission from the Intelligence Forces arrives to journalist and human rights activist Luis Carlos Díaz's home, missing since 5:30 pm #WhereIsLuisCarlos
Other human rights and freedom of speech organizations joined the campaign through #DondeEstaLuisCarlos (Where is Luis Carlos?) which is, at the moment, a trending topic in Venezuela's twittosphere.
Díaz is a journalist and a human rights and freedom of speech advocate who is well known and highly appreciated in Venezuela and abroad for his commentary and criticism of the government of Nicolas Maduro. He has long worked with Soto producing web-based video and radio programs focused on politics and human rights in Venezuela. He has also worked as an educator and promoter of the creation of citizen media spaces and independent media projects. Díaz has also been part of the Global Voices community for more than a decade.
Para mí Luis Carlos es una pequeña lumbrera de información y redes en esta Venezuela tan caótica que nos tocó. Él ha logrado establecer vínculos con la sociedad (desde la crítica hasta espacios culturales) #DóndeEstáLuisCarlos
— Verónica A. Ifigenia (@verocosmica) March 12, 2019
To me, Luis Carlos is a brilliant person, well versed in information and networks in this chaotic Venezuela of ours. He has been able to make links with society (from criticism to cultural spaces) #WhereIsLuisCarlos.
Just a few days prior to his disappearance, the state-affiliated media program Con el Mazo Dando showed a video clip of a recent broadcast of Diaz. The program's host, politician Diosdado Cabello, insinuated that Diaz had helped to orchestrate the nationwide power outage that had Venezuelans living in the dark for more than 24 hours on March 7 and 8.
There is no evidence to support this.
#DenunciaEP | Desde las 5:30 pm se desconoce el paradero del periodista Luis Carlos Díaz (@LuisCarlos). Hace varios días fue acusado de “influencer fascistoide” a través de la cuenta de Twitter de “Con el mazo dando”. #10Mar#DóndeEstáLuisCarlos
— Espacio Público (@espaciopublico) 12 de marzo de 2019
#DenounceEP Since 5:30 pm the whereabouts of journalist Luis Carlos Díaz are unknown. He was accused to be a “fascist-like influencer” through the Twitter account of “Con el mazo dando”.
Our friend @LuisCarlos is one of the most visible faces of dissident journalism in Venezuela. A few days ago, Diosdado's #conelmazodando targeted LC with a tinfoil hat propaganda campaign linking him to “the US planned” nationwide blackout. #DóndeEstáLuisCarlos
— Caracas Chronicles (@CaracasChron) March 12, 2019
As time without solid information continues to pass, the SNTP joined the campaign that started the search at the headquarters of the Intelligence Service (SEBIN):
#AHORA | Siete horas han pasado desde que desapareció Luis Carlos Diaz, periodista de Unión Radio Noticias y activista de Ddhh. Estamos ahora en el Sebin del Helicoide y niegan tenerlo #DondeEstáLuisCarlos #12Mar
— SNTP (@sntpvenezuela) March 12, 2019
It's been been seven hours since Luis Carlos Díaz has gone missing. [Díaz] is a journalist for Unión Radio Noticias and he's a human rights activist. We're at the SEBIN headquarters and they deny having him [in custody there] #WhereIsLuisCarlos
[Update: they later confirmed Diaz was in custody]
Journalist Vladimir Villegas denounced that he had been detained by government forces:
Se nos informa que el periodista Luis Carlos Diaz, de @Unionradionet, ha sido detenido por cuerpos de seguridad del Estado. Expresamos nuestra preocupación por su integridad física . Exigimos información cierta sobre su paradero y respeto a sus derecho humanos.
— Vladimir Villegas (@Vladi_VillegasP) March 12, 2019
We've been informed that @Unionradionet journalist Luis Carlos Díaz, has been detained by State's security forces. We express our concern for his physical integrity. We demand any information of his whereabouts and respect for his human rights.
The Global Voices community stands in solidarity with Luis Carlos, his family, and all other independent journalists working to hold power to account in Venezuela. We wish for his safe and speedy return, and will continue to update this story as it develops.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


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Groups denounce continuous cyberattacks against independent media in the Philippines · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Groups denounce cyberattacks against several independent media websites in the Philippines. Photo: Kodao Productions, used with permission.
Several media groups in the Philippines marked the World Day Against Cyber Censorship on March 12, 2019, by holding a protest to denounce the ongoing cyberattacks on their websites. The groups say the attacks have been backed by the Philippine government.
Since December 2018, the websites of alternative media groups Bulatlat, Kodao Productions, Pinoy Weekly, and Altermidya have been targeted with distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS).
The websites of Arkibong Bayan, Manila Today and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines have also been attacked in the past month.
According to the Southeast Asian Press Alliance, at least 10 cases of cyber attacks against select Filipino news outlets have been documented since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power in 2016.
Qurium, a Sweden-based media foundation which has been assisting those media groups, confirmed the DDoS attacks against Altermidya and other alternative news websites:
We can confirm that the attack against @Altermidya started the 8th february around 7 AM and has not stopped since then. Hosting provider has suspended their account. https://t.co/WaxyLpDj3y
— Qurium Media (@Qur1um) February 12, 2019
The details of the DDoS attacks have been reported to the government’s National Computer Emergency Response Team (NCERT) of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). After one month had passed without the government body acknowledging their report, the media groups led by Altermidya decided to protest in front of NCERT’s office.
In a joint editorial, the media groups linked the cyberattacks to the government’s crackdown on dissent:
The Duterte regime is using every means to silence dissent, criticism and free expression: from threats, incarceration to killings, to cyber warfare. The main target of this latest assault are the alternative media that mostly via online disseminate reports and views on events and issues that are rarely covered, if at all, by the dominant media. The goal is to deny a public hungry for information the reports and stories that it needs to understand what is happening in a country besieged by lies and disinformation.
The editorial condemned the increasing attacks against the press, especially those perceived to be critical of the Duterte government.
On the #WorldDayAgainstCyberCensorship, #Engagemedia participated in a protest rally in Manila arranged by Philippine-based alternative media groups to condemn the continuous cyber attacks against critical media #NoToCyberCensorship #DefendIndependentMedia #DefendPressFreedom pic.twitter.com/LCu2dGJnff
— EngageMedia (@EngageMedia) March 12, 2019
Altermidya national coordinator Rhea Padilla explained on Facebook why they protested against NCERT:
This is why we are here. We demand that they act on the attacks. Otherwise, we will be lead to believe that NCERT and DICT are complicit in the attack on press freedom.
Altermidya reporter Toby Roca echoed her words:
There is still time for DICT to act. The government can investigate the cyberattacks and prosecute those responsible. The state must recognize that sustained denial of service attacks done via Philippine servers constitute criminal activity that must be stopped. #KeepUsOnline
— Toby Roca (@tobyroca) March 12, 2019
Jola Diones-Mamangun, executive director of Kodao Productions, criticized the use of bots and trolls to undermine the work of the independent media:
Not content with fomenting disinformation and fake news, the Duterte administration is hell-bent on silencing what it considers as fierce critics and political opponents and goes to extreme lengths and harnessing even the power of the dark web.

author: Mong Palatino


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Journalist and human rights defender Luis Carlos Díaz detained by state security in Venezuela · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

Luis Carlos Díaz. Photo taken from his public Facebook profile.
In the early hours of the morning on March 12, Venezuelan journalist Luis Carlos Díaz was confirmed to have been detained by the Bolivarian Intelligence Police (SEBIN).
His wife, Naky Soto, also a well known political commentator, had reported him missing hours before.
The hashtag #DondeEstaLuisCarlos (Where's Luis Carlos?) gave way to #LiberenaLuisCarlos (Free Luis Carlos) which very soon became the first trending topic on Venezuela's twittersphere and among the top tweets worldwide.
Luis Carlos is a long-time and celebrated member of the Global Voices community. For more than a decade, he has worked to defend freedom of speech and use of digital networks to maintain public access to information amid Venezuela's ongoing crisis. He and Soto also host a hugely popular video program (previously on YouTube, now on Patreon) where they offer political commentary and humor.
Luis Carlos is known for his wit, his skills as a collaborator and mentor, and his unique capacity to understand and explain Venezuela's complicated digital communication environment.
According to SNTP member Marco Ruiz, who attended a gathering in front of the public prosecutor's offices on the morning of March 12, agents from SEBIN searched Diaz's and Soto's apartment and confiscated several electronic devices:
#URGENTE | Comisión del Sebin allanó la residencia del Luis Carlos Diaz. Se llevaron computadoras, pen drive, celulares, dinero, entre otros. A Diaz le permitieron estar en el allanamiento esposado. Relató en esos minutos que fue golpeado en su detención, a las 5:30 pm #12Mar
— SNTP (@sntpvenezuela) March 12, 2019
A commission from SEBIN searched Luis Carlos Diaz's residence. They took computers, pen drives, cellphones and money among others. They let Diaz to be present while handcuffed. During those moments, he said to have been beaten during his detention at 5:30 pm.
Luis Carlos Díaz and his wife, political commentator Naky Soto, who has asked people to join her at the Prosecutor's office to ask for Diaz's liberation. Photography taken from Diaz's public profile on Facebook.
After authorities searched their home, and then left again, taking Díaz with them, Soto made an appeal on Twitter, asking people to accompany her to the prosecutor's office on March 12 and ask for her husband's freedom.
Naky Soto told Global Voices via WhatsApp that Diaz had been threatened days before the detention. According to online media Clases de Periodismo, Diaz had been threatened by pro government Twitter accounts after political leaders publicly alleged that Díaz had a role in orchestrating the blackout that left much of Venezuela without electricity for days. There is no evidence to support these claims.
Representatives of Provea (Education-Action Program on Human Rights) were also present during SEBIN's search and took Naky Soto's testimony:
Soto pudo conversar brevemente con Díaz, quien le relató que habría sido detenido cuando se desplazaba […] cuando se desplazaba en bicicleta a su domicilio. Asimismo, le confirmó que habría sido víctima de tratos crueles y degradantes durante su detención. La información suministrada por los funcionarios durante el allanamiento es que Díaz, supuestamente, habría cometido “delitos informáticos”.
Soto was able to speak briefly with Díaz, who told her that he had been detained while he was on his way back home by bicycle. At the same time, he confirmed that he had been victim of cruel and degrading treatments during his detention. The information given by the agents during the search was that Díaz had, allegedly, committed “computer-related crimes”.
The report added that Soto, who is recovering from breast cancer, was also wanted by the authorities:
Según el testimonio, los funcionarios habrían informado que Soto también se encontraba en la orden de aprehensión, pero que debido a su condición (paciente oncológico) no iban a proceder en los momentos. Sin embargo, “si denunciaba, la vendrían a buscar”.
According to the testimony, the agents had informed Soto that she was also wanted by the authorities, but that given her condition (as she's a cancer patient) they wouldn't proceed at the moment; but they “would come for her if [she] denounced”.
Journalist Luz Mely Reyes recounted the events and shared the video with Soto's testimony:
#LiberenaLuisCarlos Ella es @Naky. Es paciente oncológica. Su esposo,, el periodista y activista de DDHH fue detenido este #11Mar por el Sebin. Naky estará en unas horas en la sede de la Fiscalia exigiendo libertad plena para LC. ( Hilo con la historia) pic.twitter.com/M3m6p0c7A2
— Luz Mely Reyes (@LuzMelyReyes) March 12, 2019
“#FreeLuisCarlos She is Naky. She is a cancer patient. Her husband, journalist and human rights activist [Luis Carlos Díaz] was detained on March 11th by the SEBIN. Naky will be heading to the Prosecutor's headquarters in a few hours, demanding Luis Carlos’ freedom. (Thread with full story)”
Hours later, Soto was accompanied by members of Provea, the SNTP and other supporters. In her public testimony, she denounced Díaz's “arbitrary detention” and added:
“We demand his full release and we want to ask the UN's Human Rights commission in Caracas to help us know how he is physically and psychologically.”
Naky Soto, esposa del periodista Luis Carlos Díaz, asegura que el activista fue detenido usando como prueba un video alterado de una publicación hecha por él. “El acta dice que lo capturaron en flagrancia y el iba en su bicicleta. No hay manera de acusarlo de lo que intentan”. pic.twitter.com/exbHZygFTC
— SNTP (@sntpvenezuela) March 12, 2019
Naky Soto, Luis Carlos Díaz's wife, assured that the activist was detained using as proof an altered video made out of one that was shared by him [on social media]. “The record says he was caught in flagrante delicto, and he was on his bike. There's no way to accuse him as much as they're trying to.
As of 3pm local time on March 12, Díaz remained in custody and was not known to have been charged with any crime.
Global Voices’ community will continue to follow this developing story and stand in solidarity with Luis Carlos and his family.

author: Laura Vidal


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Nigerians grieve the death of Pius Adesanmi, postcolonial scholar and public intellectual · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

Screenshot of Professor Pius Adesanmi who lost his life in the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash on March 10, 2019.
Death arrives among all that sound / like a shoe with no foot in it, / like a suit with no man in it …
— Pablo Neruda
Pius Adesanmi — Nigerian-born Canadian professor, poet, literary critic and columnist — was among the 157 passengers aboard the Ethiopia Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 that crashed on March 10, 2019, just outside of the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, with no survivors. Adesanmi was on his way to Nairobi as a guest speaker at the African Union's Economic, Social and Cultural Council meeting in Nairobi, Kenya.
Adesanmi joined Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, in 2006 as a professor of literature and African studies and until his death served as Carleton’s director of the Institute of African Studies.
Screenshot of the last Facebook post of Pius Adesanmi.
In July last year, Adesanmi survived a car accident while on a visit to Nigeria. He told SaharaReporters that “It was a miracle I survived. I nearly bled to death. No help for over four hours.”
His last post on Facebook sounded prophetic: “If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me— Psalm 139:9-10.”
Adesanmi, one of Nigeria’s – nay Africa’s – finest public intellectuals, started his academic journey at Nigeria University in Ilorin, Kwara State, where he earned a first-class degree in French in 1992. He moved to the University of Ibadan for a Masters degree in French (1998) and the University of British Colombia for a doctorate in French studies (2002).
He traced his love for French back to his childhood when in 1978 his father became the principal of Saint Augustine’s College — a prominent Catholic secondary school in Kabba, old Kwara State.
Most of the Catholic missionaries hailed from Quebec, the French-speaking province of Canada. According to Adesanmi: “These priests detected my aptitude for language and learning and I went to live with them as an altar boy. … [T]he language around them was French and that was the beginning of my journey into the French world. …”
Professor Adesanmi was a towering scholar in postcolonial research. His book, “You’re Not a Country, Africa,” was the winner of the 2010 inaugural Penguin Prize for African writing in nonfiction. He engaged prolifically with Nigeria’s political story through his weekly columns — an affront to those in power and a consistent voice that spoke harsh and bitter truth to power. Adesanmi held no hostages.
Adesanmi bridged the gap between literature and political commentary in his book
“Naija No Dey Carry Last” (2015). This essay collection brimmed “full of questions, on which every Nigerian must reflect in order to end the endless repetitions of horror in Nigeria’s history,” Echezonnachukwu Ndukain explained. He employed “satire to create political awareness and national memory,” writer Udo Okoronkwo-Chukwu said.
As a public intellectual, Adesanmi had an ambidextrous gift for turning scholarship and creative writing into service for the common good. He used all his media platforms — Facebook, Twitter (@pius_adesanmi) timeline and his newspaper column — to engage issues arising from Nigeria’s murky socio-political milieu.
Nigerians mourn the loss of Professor Adesanmi with thoughts and memories pouring in via Twitter:
Could he have known? A mind as fine as sapphire and as clear as crystal. I say with pride that I knew him (He was my student in his undergraduate days) and I mourn the vanishing of this gem! Jee nke oma! https://t.co/Ei1zgiuOMv
— Noel Ihebuzor (@naitwt) March 11, 2019
I understand now why men go out drinking and pay for warmth in strange places. Because if we cry, if we cry, the elders fine us. Oh Pius, It is taboo to mourn you, I was supposed to go first. Son, where is my drink? I can’t do this sober. Onugo of my ancestors, what have we done? pic.twitter.com/BJBjTD29Vw
— Pa Ikhide (@ikhide) March 11, 2019
The following writers, intellectuals and fans of Pius Adesanmi shared exclusive tributes with Global Voices:
He was a scholar whose intellection was informed by a deep humanism and a strong belief that the human condition was capable of improvement through the application of reason and the pursuit of balance. His wit was endearing as was his humour. His sarcasm spared no one! A big loss. —Noel Ihebuzor, former Assistant Representative, UNICEF Nigeria
A towering intellectual with a mind that cut through issues like a scalpel who still remained curious about the issues of a younger would-be thinker, he inspired and supported me with kindness and warmth. It breaks my heart to have to come to terms with this loss. I remember … our meetings in Abuja and online — in Cyberia as he called it. It is his intellectual curiosity and dexterity with ideas, applying them in a way that have no doubt about his innate moral force — lost now so early — that brings tears to my eyes … Rest well, oga Pius. – Richard Ali, poet and publisher, Nigeria
He came from my mum's village and may have been a cousin or so. I never tried to find out. We rarely agreed, as I always differed on basics with academics [who] left [Nigeria] and [I] felt there was nothing to be gained from [Nigeria] anymore … but if [Pius] spoke that way, he certainly never acted it. … [He always contributed by returning time and again and sometimes at his expense to contribute to discourse and training … My heart breaks for his aged mother whom he loved unashamedly. His wife and daughter Tishe, whose conversations were fodder for many of his write-ups as [Tishe] grew in the public domain. From his writings, I gleaned they had just moved house. They were settling in nicely. But Pius walked out and will not be back. Sigh. May you find your way home, aburo [younger brother]. — Dr. Adenike Olatunji-Akioye, Sub Dean, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan
Pius Adesanmi — scholar, thinker and poet — made several valuable contributions to African and world discourses. I knew him from his days as a postgraduate student at the University of Ibadan in the mid '90s. He was a very visible member of the intellectual ferment in Ibadan at the time and a student of Harry Garuba. … From the days of Krazitivity, a Yahoo listserve of Nigerian writers spread across the world, to the emergence of Facebook and Twitter, Pius made many thoughtful and polemical interventions. His demise at the prime of life is a great shock indeed. Pius entered into African and World arguments armed with an arsenal of really sophisticated tools and we are going to miss his acuity and the access he gave the African public to a wealth of ideas which never even once succumbed to the agenda of colonialists. — Tade Ipadeola, poet and 2013 winner of Nigeria Prize for Literature

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


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The challenges of mapping street harassment in Sri Lanka go beyond data collection · Global Voices
GroundViews

Image via Groundviews.
This post by Raisa Wickrematunge originally appeared on Groundviews, an award-winning citizen journalism website in Sri Lanka. An edited version is published below as part of a content-sharing agreement with Global Voices.
In recognition of International Women's Day 2016, Groundviews, a civic media initiative, mapped incidents of street harassment in Sri Lanka, none of which had been reported to the police. Those who contributed their stories to the map recounted experiences that remained painful or frightening, even years later.
For International Women's Day 2019, Groundviews tried to determine how much of a disparity there was between women's experiences of street harassment and available police statistics. While the grave crimes abstract, which is available on the Sri Lanka Police website, does have statistics on rape, statutory rape and sexual abuse, it does not specifically identify street harassment. In order to ascertain what statistics were available on street harassment for 2018, Groundviews filed information requests with both the Sri Lanka Police Headquarters and its Tourist Police division. Groundviews’ suspicion that the police did not record statistics for street harassment proved to be partially correct.
The map below (click here to view it more clearly) reflects available police statistics on sexual abuse: 2312 incidents of sexual abuse were reported in 2018, with 17 incidents of sexual abuse reported by tourists.
Both the Tourist Police and the Women and Child Abuse Prevention Bureau requested that Groundviews inspect the police logs. Providing the information would be logistically impossible, they said, since the officers in charge at both units would have to comb through an entire year’s worth of handwritten records. Their task would have been swifter and easier had the logbooks been digitized, but it appeared that the only nod to the 21st century was the grave crimes abstract itself, although its PDF format was not easily searchable, and it failed to define what the different categories mean (for instance, what qualifies as sexual abuse).
The data was also compiled differently in each division. The Women and Children’s Bureau was entirely unable to provide statistics for street harassment — in their data, this fell under the broad category of sexual abuse. Police Headquarters had a separate book logging the total number of sexual abuse cases reported for 2018 and this was what Groundviews received, though the officer on duty noted that it was not possible to get details about each reported incident.
On the other hand, the Tourist Police maintained their own logbooks, allowing them to provide a detailed, incident-by-incident breakdown that included cases of street harassment, flashing, sexual assault and rape. The officer in charge noted that tourists did not frequently complain of harassment — there were far more complaints of theft.
Yet, research shows that street harassment is common — and not just for tourists. A 2015 United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) study found that 90 per cent of women surveyed had experienced street harassment while taking public transportation. Of these incidents, 74 percent were physical in nature and included unwanted touching.
Complicating the issue is the fact that victims who do make police reports or come forward to talk about street harassment are often targeted themselves, particularly online. Responses to management executive Malki Opatha's tweet about her own experience of street harassment quickly turned into victim blaming, with many Twitter users asking her why she had chosen to sit near the window on the bus, and others telling her she should have shouted at the perpetrator.
18.12.18 #metoo
I was harassed on my way home.
I stood up from my seat near the window, I wanted to shout, I wanted to scream!
I couldn’t shout, I couldn’t scream, I was traumatized & my voice didn’t come out.
He got away!
It’s been 2 days now and it haunts me still ? #lka
— Malki (@MalkiOpatha) December 20, 2018
In response, Malki filmed a video explaining why she had not reacted to the person who harassed her: “We don’t react because we’re not ready. Even if we have an awareness about harassment on public transport, we don’t know how to react. We go numb. Our body freezes. Even if we want to shout, sometimes we can’t.”
Despite such powerful testimonies, a recent UNPFA campaign on street harassment, which coincided with the international campaign 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, still saw many commenters blaming those who came forward to share their stories, labeling it “attention-seeking”.
“With your make-up, he may [have] thought you were someone. I don’t like [women who put on] too much make-up. And another thing, why should he [harass] you? There aren’t any girls in bus except you??” one commenter said.
“He only asked [for] her phone number,” said another. “She didn’t know for what reason. I think it [could] be because he got her trust, he wanted to be friends. Think positively…is asking [for a] phone number from a girl also sexual harassment?”
Judging from the comments, many of the young men on the thread do not consider street harassment to be a serious issue. Nor do the police, it would appear. Although Groundviews’ aim was to map street harassment in a similar way to its 2016 mapping project, it was unable to do so, for reasons that go way beyond data collection.
While conducting research on technology-based violence, Groundviews was told during focus group discussions that the approach of the police and its Criminal Investigation Department often cause fresh trauma to victims who do attempt to receive some form of redress. It is not inconceivable that the same also applies to violence that happens offline.
At present, those who file complaints — including accusations of sexual abuse and violence — are met with a system for reporting such crimes that is neither designed for, nor responsive to their needs. Ongoing gender sensitisation programmes, comprehensive sexuality, and relationship education at the school level and the digitisation of police logs would be a good start in addressing these shortcomings.

author: GroundViews


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Carnival may bring out latent body-shaming in Trinidad & Tobago, but this masquerader is having none of it · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Artist Halcian Pierre's portrait of plus-size Carnival masquerader Candice Santana, used with permission.
Plus-size masquerader Candice Santana, who recently took part in Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival celebrations, said she decided to join the 2019 street parade after realising that the band “The Lost Tribe” had designed costumes catering for larger sizes. She signed up. Their presentation went on to win the “Large Band of the Year” award, given to the most outstanding portrayal by bands with more than 600 participants.
In a public Facebook post on Ash Wednesday, the day after Carnival, Santana shared photos of her experience, saying:
[The Lost Tribe] ran a campaign endorsing all sizes, shapes and shades. This excited me on many levels because truth be told we are a body shaming society. Some do it consciously and directly while others may not even understand that they doing it.
She went on to chronicle several exchanges that proved her point: fellow plus-size women informing her that “mas[querade] is not for we fat girls”, a photographer asking her to step aside while he tried to take a photo of her friend, two women admonishing their male friend for “wining” [dancing] with her, even a fellow masquerader telling her she looked “beautiful for a plus size girl”.
Despite such indignities, Santana said she “had an awesome Carnival” and declared, “I looked amazing”.
Enter Dr. Fuad Khan, a former minister of health, recorded a video that went viral on social media channels like Facebook and WhatsApp, where he berated Santana for accusing Trinidad and Tobago of being a body-shaming society — saying the issue was one of health.
Claiming that about 60 percent of the population was obese (a 2017 Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization report puts that figure at about half, at 31 percent), Khan criticised Santana's appearance, lifestyle and willpower, suggested she was playing the victim, and told her to “shut up”. The language he used was particularly vitriolic, referring to her as “a tub”:
We don't want no non-communicable diseases. It's a strain on the health care […] heart attacks, diabetes, eye problems, foot problems, renal problems, respiratory problems because of the stupidness that you're promoting. It's not about fat-shaming and fat acceptance.
Khan has courted controversy before. Back in July 2015, he linked the country's reduced stray dog population with the increase in menu offerings at local Chinese restaurants. This time, the backlash was just as swift.
On Facebook, Nikoli Jean-Paul Edwards called his comments “reckless” and demanded a public apology:
While I totally support his stance on combating non-communicable diseases (NCDs), for which he has consistently sought to champion, even as the former minister of health, I cannot support the manner in which he approached this latest situation. […] I would be concerned if you were my doctor.
As a [minister of parliament], Dr. Khan should be aware that he represents all types of people who come in various shapes, colours, genders, with different religious and political beliefs, and ethnicities. As such caution must be exercised in the things one says and does.
The truth of the matter is that we don't know the real reason behind the young woman's weight gain.
Santana herself responded in a public Facebook post:
I recall that I spoke about body shaming regardless of size, shape or shade. I also recall that I said that I am not endorsing an unhealthy lifestyle […] I encouraged everyone to switch towards a healthy lifestyle, including a balance[d] diet and exercise, but maybe he didn't look at the entire interview or he missed that part. I even indicated that I made changes to my lifestyle.
[I] forgive him for the harsh words dished out at me. I look myself in the mirror and remind myself that I am beautiful inside and outside. I also remind myself that this is an opportunity to show love and not get caught up in any negativity.
Khan later apologised for his tone but stood by his message.
Comedian Simmy De Trini, in addressing Khan, noted:
The reason why weight loss supplements is a billion dollar global industry is because many women feel the need to conform to societal standards of beauty. Not health… Beauty. […]
Our awareness of NCDs is not the issue.
Our willingness to try is not the issue.
The issue is people, like yourself, who refuse to see the contributions we can and do make to society all while battling against people who feel comfortable to treat us as second class citizens or casually insult or laugh at us without considering what steps we are taking to work with bodies that may have underlying medical complications that make weight loss difficult and weight gain easy. […]
If you stand behind what you said and the insulting and condescending tones embedded in your message, that's completely your choice.
Voting is MY choice and you better believe my fat finger will never vote for any political party that has you on their slate of candidates.
Facebook user Suzette Louwe, however, suggested that all the people pledging their support for Santana were being hypocritical:
We know that we criticize and fat shame all the time. But unlike Fuad, we do it in private. Does that make us better? […] Criticize him all you want and he's probably well deserving of it. But don't forget to correct it in yourself too.
Santana has said that she is grateful for the outpouring of support she has received online; plus-size artist Halcian Pierre even painted a portrait of the masquerader in full costume, explaining:
Her experience really touched me and I am in absolute awe of her for her inner strength and for the love she carries in her heart. ?????

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Charged with ‘instigating crimes’, journalist Luis Carlos Diaz is released in Venezuela · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

Luis Carlos Diaz (right) with Marco Ruiz from the National Syndicate of Press Workers (SNTP, left), shortly after his release. Screen capture from video posted by the SNTP.
At roughly midnight on March 12, in Caracas, the National Press Workers’ Syndicate of Venezuela confirmed that journalist and human rights defender Luis Carlos Díaz was released by Venezuelan authorities after being held for approximately 24 hours.
He has been charged with “instigating crimes” (instigación a delinquir) and released on the conditions that he will report to intelligence authorities (SEBIN) every eight days, and remain within Venezuelan territory. He has also been forbidden from speaking about his experience in detention.
The 34-year-old journalist went missing on the evening of March 11. At 2:30 am on March 12, state security officers brought him to his apartment, in handcuffs. They raided the home he shares with his wife, seizing multiple electronic devices, and then left the apartment, taking Díaz with them.
Hours later, dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the public prosecutor's office in solidarity with these calls and with Díaz’ wife, Naky Soto, who is also a well known political analyst and activist.
Demonstrators gathered outside the public prosecutor's office to demand Luis Carlos’ release. Sign reads: “Defending, informing and giving one's opinion are human rights.” Photos shared on Twitter.
Since early morning on March 12, the internet saw a groundswell of support from media freedom and human rights networks around the world calling for his release. The hashtag #DondeEstaLuisCarlos (Where's Luis Carlos?) gave way to #LiberenaLuisCarlos (Free Luis Carlos) which very soon became the first trending topic on Venezuela's twittersphere and among the top tweets worldwide.
After his release, Díaz tweeted to his colleagues from his wife's account, thanking them for their support:
Por último, ya sabía que tenía buenos amigos, pero mi duda en todo momento es: ¿cómo hacer que se conozcan entre ellos?
Nunca imaginé el resultado de eso. Es increíble. Llevo horas leyendo y no he terminado.
Gracias.
— Naky Soto (@Naky) 13 de marzo de 2019
Finally, I already knew I had good friends, but my question now is: How can they connect with each other?
I never imagined what this could achieve. It is incredible. I've been reading for hours and I haven't finished. Thank you.
Luis Carlos is a long-time and celebrated member of the Global Voices community. For more than a decade, he has worked to defend freedom of speech and use of digital networks to maintain public access to information amid Venezuela's ongoing crisis. He and Soto host a hugely popular video program (previously on YouTube, now on Patreon) where they offer political commentary and humor.
Luis Carlos is known for his wit, his skills as a collaborator and mentor, and his unique capacity to understand and explain Venezuela's complicated digital communication environment.
The Global Voices community is relieved that our colleague is safe and with his family. We will continue to monitor his case as it progresses.


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Scheduled release of Egyptian activist  Alaa Abd El Fattah delayed by 10 days · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

Alaa And El Fattah, photo by Nariman El-Mofty.
Egyptian authorities have delayed the release of prominent blogger and activist Alaa Abd El Fattah by 10 days, his sister, human rights activist Mona Seif said on Twitter.
Abd El Fattah was scheduled to be released from prison on March 17, 2019, the day he completes his five-year sentence in prison.
In late February, the Free Alaa campaign posted an update on Facebook, announcing that the blogger's scheduled day of release is now March 27, blaming the ”usual bureaucracy” at Egyptian institutions. The campaign reassured supporters that the delay is not a cause for concern for now:
The truth is the prison authorities have been giving us mixed dates over the past few months because even they find it hard to calculate exactly how long he has been in prison as he has been in and out of prison many times over the past years. They have finally settled on the 27th of March as the last day in his sentence, so accordingly we are tweaking the counter, and continuing the countdown with you
Alaa was arrested and taken from his family’s home in November 2013. More than one year later, in February 2015, he was finally tried and sentenced to five years in prison for “organising” a protest under a 2013 protest law that prohibits unauthorised demonstrations. While he did take part in a protest against military trials for civilians on 26 November 2013, Alaa had no role in organising it. His sentence was confirmed by Egypt’s Court of Cassation in November 2017.
He has been jailed or investigated under every Egyptian head of state who has served during his lifetime. In 2006, he was arrested for taking part in a peaceful protest. In 2011, he spent two months in prison, missing the birth of his first child, Khaled. In 2013, he was arrested and detained for 115 days without trial.
Alaa has long worked on technology and political activism projects with his wife, Manal Hassan. He comes from a family of prominent human rights advocates, including human rights lawyer Ahmed Seif El Islam, Alaa's father, who was jailed multiple times under the regime of Hosni Mubarak. Abd El Fattah’s sisters, Mona and Sanaa Seif, are also human rights defenders who have long campaigned against the military trials of civilians in the country. In 2016, Sanaa served a six-month jail sentence for insulting a public official.
The March release date does not mark the end of Alaa's time served, but rather a transition to the final phase of his sentence. After his release, Alaa will be made to spend every night in his local police station for an additional five years.

author: Afef Abrougui


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Sudan’s youth activists want you to pay attention to deforestation in Darfur · Global Voices
Temo Dias

Desertification in northern Darfur has increasingly encroached further south, leading to more food shortages and crippling poverty, which in turn leads to more dependence on firewood as fuel. Photo by Alaaeldein Abdelrahman Yousif, used with permission.
Political protests have rocked Sudan for the last few months over Sudan's steady economic decline under President Omar al-Bashir, who has ruled since 1993. Ongoing instability and conflict in Sudan have led to the separation of South Sudan and the War in Darfur, known as the Land Cruiser War.
In 2003, rebel groups went to war with the Sudanese government who they accused of discrimination and oppression of non-Arab people. A genocide ensued, spurred by ethnic and political conflict, leaving an estimated 500,000 dead and millions more internally displaced.
The protracted conflict has laid the ground to waste.
Alaaeldein Abdelrahman Yousif, regional co-coordinator of Sudan Youth Organization on Climate Change, thinks that stepping up to tackle the imminent threat of climate change in Sudan is critical. As the range inspector for the Ministry of Animal Resources, Yousif and other Sudanese youth have a lot to say about deforestation and its impact on society.
“The core of this problem is poverty,” Yousif said. Escalating poverty, lack of resources and movement of people are driving deforestation in western Sudan’s Darfur region.
Approximately 2 million people now languish in Internally Displaced Peoples camps throughout the Darfur region.
People have turned to firewood to meet everyday needs. In addition, demand for more housing has led to a boom in wood-fired brick-making which consumes 52,000 trees per year. Many in Darfur have turned to timber and bamboo trade for some form of income, like furniture making. And the changing diet from asida (a traditional Sudanese wheat-based porridge) to bread has also increased the need for more firewood.
Jebel Marra has multiple diverse tree species south of its chain which have always been depended upon for sustenance. Photo by Alaaeldein Abdelrahman Yousif, March 8, 2019, used with permission.
Darfur lies in western Sudan with a view of the great Jebel Marra, Sudan’s largest mountain range.
The region is situated in the Sahel and contains multiple eco-regions: northern deserts with low rainfall transition into the wooded Sahel and tropical woodlands with high rainfall in the south. The northeast is characterized by plains and low sand hills, while the west contains wadis — dry valleys that gather rainwater — essential to pastoralists during long-distance routes with livestock.
Rainfall in the northern deserts has decreased in recent years, leading to a drop in food production which has driven more people from the north into the southern regions of Darfur. Meanwhile, the desert has encroached southward by at least 100 kilometers over the last four decades.
Katie Fletcher and Todd Gartner for the World Resources Institute explain how deforestation leads to drought and extreme flooding:
Forests help control the water cycle by regulating precipitation, evaporation and flows. Layers of forest canopy, branches and roots can store and release water vapor, which controls rainfall. Deforestation weakens this process, leading to irregular rainfall patterns including drought and flooding.
According to the United Nations Environment Program’s environmental assessment of Sudan’s conflict, the rate of deforestation is estimated to be more than 1 percent per year. In central Darfur State, tree density has gone down from 400 trees per hectare in 1998 to 27 trees per hectare in 2016. Certain regions already face shortages for wood fuel.
Endangered trees include the Acacia Senegal, a highly valuable tree that produces Gum Arabic sap, a natural binding substance widely sold in markets and found in things like soda, sweets, paint, ink and pharmaceuticals.
Gum Arabic used to be called “Sudan’s miracle commodity,” and in the 1990s it contributed up to 90 percent of the world’s production. But deforestation is threatening its position on the global market. Tamarind, a tree used for inexpensive traditional medicine, is also endangered.
These losses affect the poor who rely directly on the forest products. It also afflicts crops and increases the occurrence of drought, furthering the push to cut down trees to make ends meet and increasing regional conflict.
In December 2018, Yousif attended COP24, the informal name for the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Disillusioned by the conference’s bureaucratic proceedings, he protested on the streets of Katowice, Poland, with the hopes of bringing attention to Darfur's environmental catastrophe as one of the driest regions of the world.
Darfur conditions are dire, but Yousif looks beyond doom and gloom in search of applicable solutions:
The people are bored and annoyed by awareness sessions from organizations because real solutions are not being brought. What they are thinking is, ‘I need to feed my children.’ Concrete solutions need to be brought to fix poverty and the environment together.
Yousif thinks Darfur’s traditional villages have the historical know-how of ecological farming and says their rules for environmental management could be revived and to operate and ecovillages.
While at COP24, he attended the Global Ecovillage Network meeting and found new hope in agroforestry, the practice of planting trees around crops at the same time. Used in various Indigenous communities, agroforestry builds on and mimics the environmental system by nurturing relationships between agriculture and forest management.
Yousif sees this as an opportunity to knit villages back together in sync with nature.
Rampant tree cutting has deforested the land, stripping essential resources and creating cycles of poverty in Darfur. Photo by Alaaeldein Abdelrahman Yousif, used with permission.
He hopes this idea will find support with the Sudanese government, who could invest in this practice by participating in cooperative reforestation projects with farmers. The government could trade or tax harvested resources and this could, in turn, provide jobs and stabilize local communities.
It might even revive a sustainable Gum Arabica extraction process again by following traditional rotational cultivation cycles. Continued extraction of Gum Arabica also means an ongoing source of income for those who trade and sell it in the marketplace.
“An agroforestry system may give reasonable crop and gum yields, and be more appealing to farmers,” according to a paper by the Viikki Tropical Resources Institute of the University of Helsinki.
UNAMID, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur, has a reforestation program that could also support sustainability efforts and place a greater national focus on the transition to renewable energy. But with plans to end the mission in 2020, the reforestation program's future is uncertain.
Sudan’s complex political situation and rapidly degrading climate have intensified the daily struggle for Sudanese people. Deforestation in Darfur must be seriously addressed to help steer Sudan in the direction of peace and stability.

author: Temo Dias


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What do we know about Mozambique’s next general elections? · Global Voices
Dércio Tsandzana

A billboard shows Mozambique's president Filipe Nyusi. Photo by Dércio Tsandzana, used with permission.
In October 2019, Mozambique will elect its next president and its Congress for the sixth time since 1994 — and will elect provincial governors for the first time in its history.
Although the race hasn't officially begun, it is generally expected that the eternal rivals of Mozambican politics will compete: Frelimo, the ruling party since 1994, and the largest opposition party, Renamo.
It will be the first time Renamo will compete without its historic leader Afonso Dhlakama, who has led the party for over four decades. Dhlakama died on May 3, 2018, following a heart attack. Dhlakama will be remembered as the Renamo leader who signed the General Peace Agreements of 1992 with former President Joaquim Chissano, which set Mozambique on the path towards democracy.
To succeed him, Renamo has chosen Ossufo Momade after he was elected by a party congress held in June 2018 in Gorongosa, the Renamo base located in the central Sofala province.
He will probably be the Renamo candidate in October, and will likely compete with the current president, Frelimo's Filip Nyusi, and Daviz Simango — who presides another opposition party, the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM).
MDM was founded in 2009 and along with Renamo and Frelimo are the only parties that have representatives in the Assembly of the Republic or hold municipal offices. Daviz Simango has run, and lost, two previous presidential elections.
The October vote will also happen amid a ceasefire signed in 2016 between an armed branch of Renamo and government forces, who have in recent years skirmished with each other in Mozambique's countryside.
In February 2019, the National Elections Commission (CNE) warned the public about the lack of financial resources to organize the nationwide poll.
Key dates
Perhaps most significantly of all, this is the first time Mozambicans will elect provincial governors. Previously, they were nominated by the president.
The shift is the result of arduous and lengthy negotiations between  Renamo and the government.
While the President hasn't yet sanctioned the law that will provide for this change, it is widely believed he will do so.

author: Dércio Tsandzana


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Why the indigenous Pemón people have closed ranks against the government of Nicolás Maduro · Global Voices
Minerva Vitti

A mural in the city of Guarenas, in the north of Venezuela, says: “No to the killings of indigenous people.”. Photo shared by Provea on Instagram, used with permission.
In late February, when crowds led by opposition leader Juan Guaidó attempted to bring humanitarian aid through the borders of Colombia and Brazil, the Pemón indigenous people made the international headlines after some of its members clashed with Venezuelan security forces.
On February 22 and 23, soldiers clashed with protesters in the border towns of Pacaraima (Brazil) and Santa Elena de Uairén (Venezuela) and used lethal force against indigenous Pemón in the Venezuelan village of Kumarakapay, located 70km from the border, killing one and injuring 16. Six others died in regional hospitals in the following days.
Some Pemon responded by capturing an unclear number of officers of Venezuela's Bolivarian National Guard, who were released shortly after. In the following weeks, police arrested at least 58 people in the surrounding area, 16 of them of Pemón ethnicity. Some have reported enduring torture and cruel treatment while in detention.
Speaking with Sic magazine, a publication by Centro Gumilla, a Jesuit research center, Pemón activist Lisa Henrito condemned the repression in Gran Sabana, the broader Venezuelan municipality that includes Kumarakapay and Santa Elena de Uairén:
…hasta esta fecha y hora, martes, 26 de febrero 2019 a las 5:55 pm sigue la guerra psicológica, hostigamiento y persecución militar. La intimidación donde a cada rato pasan los tanques, los convoy full de efectivos militares, vehículos oficiales con supuestos efectivos de la policía allanando casas y en hora de la noche hay toque de queda, una situación que ya vienen afectando a nuestros ancianos y ancianas, a nuestros niños y niñas…
To this date and time, Tuesday, February 26, 2019, 5:55 pm, the psychological warfare, harassment and persecution by the military continues. Military tanks pass by all day long, as well as convoys with agents from the army, official vehicles with alleged policemen searching homes. There's a curfew at night. This situation is affecting our elderly, our children.
But tensions between the Pemón and the government of Nicolás Maduro long predates the current Venezuelan political standstill.
Residing primarily in Venezuela's Bolívar State, which borders both Brazil and Guyana, the Pemón are Venezuela's fourth-largest indigenous group. In recent years, the Bolivarian president authorized mineral extraction projects in their territory without their agreement and has regularly deployed military forces to their lands.
Some of those projects are part of the Arch of the Orinoco River National Development Strategic Zone, a grand initiative by the Maduro government in 2016 that intends to increase legal mining activity in the resource-rich — and long-dominated by illegal mining gangs — Orinoco river basin.
The Arco Minero, as it's commonly known, allocates an area corresponding to 12 percent of Venezuela's national territory for exploitation. So far more than 150 companies from 35 countries have shown interest in competing for concessions.
But the initiative has drawn criticism for lacking studies on its potential associated environmental and human impact. Several indigenous groups live in the designated area — including the Pemón, who say they have not been consulted about the project. The area also overlaps with protected reserves, such as national parks and sacred sites.
In August 2018, the Venezuelan branch of Amnesty International warned that high-ranking army officials regularly target Pemon activists who protest against Arco Minero‘s projects. Army officers routinely accuse them of being “separatists.”
Speaking with Global Voices, Juan Carlos La Rosa, a member of the educational group Intercultural Indigenous Organization Wainjirawa, says the Pemon have achieved such a high level of autonomous rule that the government now perceives them as a threat:
[La unidad y la organización de los pemón] no le gusta a un gobierno que tiene un plan minero como el Arco Minero del Orinoco. [Tampoco] le gusta a las bandas criminales, consentidas de manera ya muy clara por el ente encargado de la administración de seguridad de la región y del negocio del oro y el coltán.
[The unity and organization of the Pemon people] doesn't please a government that has a plan such as the Arco Minero del Orinoco. [It also displeases] criminal gangs, clearly tolerated by the officials in charge of the security of the region, and the gold and coltan lords.
La Rosa adds that these indigenous communities are in dangerous circumstances, surrounded by illegal gangs and the military, and as such have created alternatives to defend their territories and rights:
El pueblo pemón creó el Consejo de Caciques Generales del Pueblo Pemón, los liderazgos comunitarios y la Guardia Territorial Indígena Pemón, que no le pertenece a nadie sino a las comunidades. Se subordina a la autoridad ancestral electa por todos los pemón y no es un grupo paramilitar como lo están señalando las matrices producidas desde el gobierno nacional.
The Pemon people has created the General Council of Pemon Chiefs, the community leaders, and the Pemon Indigenous Territorial Guard, and none of them belong to anybody else other than the communities. They are subordinate to an ancestral authority, elected by all the Pemón people. They are not a paramilitary group, as it has been said by representatives of the national government.
Following the conflict over humanitarian aid, La Rosa urges the world to watch the Pemon situation closely:
Estamos hablando de la posibilidad de una masacre y es importante que la opinión pública mundial vuelque su mirada hacia los territorios indígenas […] Hoy el gobierno que levanta las banderas de defensa de la soberanía frente a una eventual invasión militar extranjera, es un gobierno que le entrega a esas mismas potencias y a otras potencias, las concesiones mineras del 12 % del territorio nacional.
We're talking about the possibility of a massacre. It's important that the world's public opinion turns its attention to the indigenous territories […] As the government defends the banner of sovereignity facing a potential military intervention, it also gives away to those and other world powers the mining concessions of 12 percent of the national territory.

author: Minerva Vitti


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Kazakhstan silences the Xinjiang megaphone · Global Voices
Eurasianet

Serikzhan Bilash (Eurasianet)
The following is a story by Eurasianet and is republished by Global Voices under a partnership agreement. Editor's note: Since this story was first published Bilash has been released from confinement and is under house arrest.
Security services in Kazakhstan had their steely gaze locked onto Xinjiang-focused activist Serikzhan Bilash long before his sudden arrest over the weekend.
When a Eurasianet correspondent met Bilash for the first time last July, prosecutors in his home city, Almaty, had just handed him a formal caution to refrain from participating in a rally summoned by a foreign-based opposition figure.
Bilash, a charismatic public speaker with a strong following among Kazakhstan’s repatriates – the beneficiaries of a government initiative to lure the ethnic Kazakh diaspora to their titular homeland – was bemused.
“I barely know who this man and his group are,” he said, referring to Mukhtar Ablyazov, the nemesis-at-large of veteran President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
“I have one issue – and that issue is Xinjiang.”
Bilash has been relentless, impassioned and single-minded in his focus on the alleged rights abuses perpetrated by Chinese authorities against the ethnic Kazakh community in their western Xinjiang province.
His activism has made life uncomfortable for the government in Astana, which is deeply reluctant to entertain anything that might upset its allies in Beijing. Kazakhstan has responded with muted apprehension to the escalating slew of accounts about how China’s government has, as part of a super-charged anti-extremism campaign, interned hundreds of thousands of people from Xinjiang’s Muslim population, including Uyghurs, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, in so-called reeducation camps. Eschewing all criticism, Astana’s emphasis has instead been on prioritizing “mutual trust, good neighborliness and respect.”
Bilash’s dramatic detention may have been intended to maintain those cordial relations. Some time after midnight, early on March 10, government agents grabbed the activist from his hotel room in Almaty where he was staying as a temporary security measure. Later, he was loaded onto a plane and flown 1,000 kilometers northward, to Astana. Once there, he was informed that he was being charged with inciting ethnic hatred.
Last year’s note from prosecutors was just one in a string of warning shots from authorities spooked by the mounting popularity of an independent political player.
Plainclothes policemen were regular visitors to the Almaty premises of Bilash’s unregistered Ata-Jurt organization. The group has been busily holding press events and showing videotaped testimonies of people alleging alarming excess by Chinese government forces in Xinjiang.
“This is our friend,” a beaming Bilash told a Eurasianet correspondent who attended an event at the office in January, indicating an unsmiling policeman standing close by.
“We are just pleased he lets us do our work,” Bilash added.
On March 10, the same unsmiling policeman, who gave his first name as Baurzhan, watched on as other officers carted computers and cameras out of Ata-Jurt’s office in black plastic bags before sealing off the premises. Several of the volunteers present during the raid were later questioned by police.
The potential demise of Ata-Jurt as a window onto developments in Xinjiang is hard to underestimate.
Repeated testimonies filmed there by the Kazakhstan-based relatives of Chinese Kazakhs detained in Xinjiang have shed considerable light on the shifting nature of state repression in the region.
Kazakhstan's border with China (Eurasianet)
In recent months, some have had word that their loved ones were being released from the reeducation camps, only for them to be dispatched to forced labor programs. Others have learned their relatives were moved to prisons to begin serving heavy sentences.
Gaukhar Kurmangaliyeva, whose cousin Askar Azatbek, a Kazakh citizen who was in December 2017 allegedly snatched by Chinese security service officers in the Khorgos freeport, a retail zone straddling the border, is one of several petitioners who made the transition to becoming an Ata-Jurt volunteer.
Before watching an online clip of one of Bilash’s pumped-up lectures last March, the part-time cleaner, whose job earns her around 50,000 tenge per month ($130), had no inkling of the scale of repression in Xinjiang.
In Ata-Jurt, she found a community of fellow sufferers. They listened to her readily. It took almost one year of constant emails and phone calls before she received an engaged response from Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry. In late 2018, officials at the ministry told her that Chinese authorities had jailed Azatbek for violating laws prohibiting dual citizenship.
“If they shut down Ata-Jurt and Serikzhan Bilash, where will we go?” asked Kurmangaliyeva.
Bilash has brushed off legal challenges before. In February, a court fined him the equivalent of nearly $700 for leading an unregistered organization.
But where some see a principled crusader undaunted by threats, others see a dangerous demagogue.
In January, a group of Kazakh public figures, including the former lawmaker and writer Mukhtar Shakhanov, signed a public letter condemning Bilash. The signatories described Bilash’s confrontational manner as divisive and said he was exploiting the Oralman, as Kazakh repatriates are known, to “score points.”
“There is more harm than use from the Ata-Jurt volunteers,” concluded the letter. Bilash later told Eurasianet he was summoned by the police for questioning over the contents of the letter.
Critics of the letter, meanwhile, suggest the signatories were put up to the job by the government.
Bilash has also shed allies along his journey to national celebrity.
Kydyarali Oraz, who views himself as the Ata-Jurt movement's founder, did as much as anyone to fight for the rights of Xinjiang Kazakhs, even raising their plight at the United Nations in Geneva in November.
But shortly after that trip, the pair fell out. Bilash accused Oraz of financial irregularities and divided loyalties.
Oraz has since formed a new group. To the suspicious chagrin of his old comrades, this group was swift in securing government registration.
After Bilash’s March 10 arrest, Oraz recorded a video message expressing solidarity with Ata-Jurt and the wider Oralman community. But relations with his former ally remain poor.
“Anybody he disagrees with, he calls a Chinese spy,” Oraz complained in an earlier interview with Eurasianet.
One person who has been unerring in her support for Bilash is perhaps the most important of all.
Former Chinese state employee and Communist Party member Sayragul Sauytbay became a media sensation last year when she became the first person to testify in court about China’s internment camps. She was on trial and facing possible deportation to China after Kazakh authorities arrested her for illegally crossing into the country.
In large part because of Ata-Jurt’s attention-raising, the trial received a steady stream of local and international coverage.
Following each hearing at Sauytbay’s trial, Bilash made impassioned speeches to the Oralman, who would pack the small and stuffy courtroom in the provincial town of Zharkent.
On one occasion, Bilash chased two panic-stricken Chinese diplomats attending the trial as observers all the way back to their car.
When the court freed Sauytbay, her status as a national icon seemed assured.
But Kazakhstan’s authorities have thus far refused Sauytbay permanent asylum, leaving her dependent on temporary extensions of her stay in the country.
That has left her open to pressure from authorities, according to Sauytbay’s lawyer, Aiman Umarova, whose work defending vulnerable women earned her a U.S. State Department award in 2018.
Umarova claims the security services recently asked Sauytbay to distance herself publicly from Bilash. They suggested national television as a suitable forum for turning on her champion, Umarova said.
“They are targeting him because he is the loudest voice raising the rights of Kazakhs living [in Xinjiang],” Umarova, who has expressed willingness to represent Bilash in any upcoming legal hearings, told Eurasianet.
Sauytbay, however, risked their wrath by refusing the offer.
“She told me: ‘If I speak out against him, after everything that those people have done for me, who would I be then?’” Umarova said.

author: Eurasianet


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Why is the Islamic Republic of Iran afraid of Nasrin Sotoudeh? · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Original graphic by Iranian cartoonist Assad Binakhahi. Used with permission. The words in Persian words represent Nasrin Sotoudeh's sentence.
“Outrageous”, “injustice”, “evil” and “crying shame” were among the words expressed by the human rights defenders and many Iranians on social media on hearing the shocking news that Nasrin Sotoudeh, a leading Iranian human rights lawyer, was sentenced to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes because of her work defending women's rights and protesting against the country’s forced hijab laws.
Reza Khandan, Soutoudeh's husband, announced the news on his Facebook page on March 11, 2019.
This tireless defender of human rights who often speaks out against the death penalty was arrested at her home in June last year. The charges brought against her include “inciting corruption and prostitution,” “openly committing a sinful act by… appearing in public without a hijab,” and “disrupting public order.”
Although the Islamic Republic has committed numerous human rights violations during the four decades of its existence, Sotoudeh's sentence was extraordinarily harsh even by the standards of the Iranian judiciary's extremely poor human rights record.
What did the Islamic Republic want to prove with this draconian sentence? And why are Iran's rulers so afraid of Soutoudeh?
Norway-based neuroscientist and human rights advocate Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam believes that the Islamic Republic is struggling for its survival. In an interview with Global Voices, he says that:
The Islamic Republic is going through one of its worst crises in the past 40 years. They have lost many of their supporters in the last nine years. Poverty is growing, and the vast corruption within the system cannot be hidden anymore. Dissatisfaction among people is increasing. Protests are not any longer limited to the intellectuals and the urban middle class: workers, teachers, students, women, and many other groups are daily challenging the authority of the establishment. The Islamic Republic is struggling for its survival. In a situation like this, anyone with the potential of leading the change is regarded as a significant threat by the authorities. Nasrin Sotoudeh is such a person. She is courageous, can communicate with the ordinary people, stands for the fundamental human rights, has not left the country despite several years of pressure, persecution and harassment, and she is a woman. Nasrin Sotoudeh has all it takes to become a leader. I think the recent sentences against Nasrin must be seen in light of these circumstances. It is a panicked attempt to silence an emerging leader and to send a signal to anyone with the potential of leading a change.
In her peaceful quest to change Iranian society, Sotoudeh follows in the footsteps of the likes of Henry David Thoreau, Gandhi or Martin Luther King.
Ramin Jahanbegllo, an Iranian-Canadian philosopher and Vice Dean and Executive Director of the Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Peace Studies told Global Voices that:
The moral courage of Soutudeh as a woman lawyer is an exemplar of all those fighting for law, justice, women’s rights and Nonviolence in Iran and the world.
The international community reacted strongly to Sotoudeh's conviction. The United States has condemned the new prison sentence in the “strongest possible terms,” and the European Union issued a statement calling it a “worrying development”. The EU's statement notes that Sotoudeh, laureate of the Sakharov Prize in 2012, was convicted following a trial held in absentia, which also featured a number of other violations of the right to due process.
Amnesty International has launched a petition asking people to call on the Supreme Leader of Iran to release Nasrin Sotoudeh immediately and unconditionally, and for her sentences to be quashed without delay.
Dr. Amiry-Moghaddam, who is also co-founder and spokesperson for the NGO Iran Human Rights, believes there is much to be done beyond petitions and statements, and that the EU is in a position to play a key role. He told Global Voices that:
This sentence must not be tolerated by the international community and especially Iran's main dialogue partners in Europe. It is not enough to issue one statement or just a protest without political consequences. The EU must put clear demands in front of Iran. Putting all their efforts on saving the JCPOA [the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal] is not the right thing to do. At the present moment, the human rights condition must be on top of the agenda of the bilateral negotiations between the EU and Iran. It is not only the right thing to do, but also the wise thing to do.
Apart from Sotoudeh, there are many other human rights defenders who have been imprisoned or are under enormous pressure from the Islamic Republic. The UN investigator on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, recently warned that “worrying patterns of intimidation, arrest, prosecution and ill-treatment of human rights defenders, lawyers and labour rights activists signal an increasingly severe state response.”

author: Fred Petrossian


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Afghan women send a message to government, Taliban: We want in · Global Voices
Raziya Masumi

The woman's jirga councils are taking place in provinces across Afghanistan. Photos used with permission from Afghan Women for Peace.
In the coming months, Afghanistan will host its first-ever national-level all-women council, where thousands are coming together to remind the government and the Taliban that a long-awaited peace is impossible without their voice.
Over the past decades of war, women in Afghanistan have experienced shocking oppression that has deepened their social isolation and made them politically cautious.
Anti-women policies at state level peaked under the Taliban, who took power in the mid-1990s before they were ousted by a U.S.-led invasion.
The woman's jirga councils are taking place in provinces across Afghanistan. Photos used with permission from Afghan Women for Peace.
That invasion led to gains in universal education, but women remain plagued by insecurity and the threat of violence.
Quotas for female representation in the legislature have not fundamentally changed the male-dominated nature of Afghan political culture.
Now, a resurgent Taliban's appearance at negotiating tables in Moscow and Doha has put even these qualified achievements under threat.
The group remains steadfast in its non-recognition both of women's role in the public space and the Afghan government, with whom it has not yet held direct talks.
Presently the Taliban prefers to speak to Washington, Moscow and select groups of Afghan politicians. The group has said its position on women's rights is in line with that of Afghanistan's main religion, Islam and remains hostile to gender equality activism.
The woman's jirga councils are taking place in provinces across Afghanistan. Photos used with permission from Afghan Women for Peace.
In the meantime, Afghan women and women’s rights activists from all walks of life came together and established Afghan Women for Peace, a 15,000 plus movement with members come from all 34 provinces.
The movement began six months ago as a shared initiative of the Afghan Women’s Network, Ministry of Women Affairs, High Peace Council, and the Office of the First Lady of Afghanistan.
15,000 women across the country came together in 34 gatherings, one in each province, to raise their voices & discuss what peace means in their own community, what are their expectations & what are the costs of peace.
— Afghan Women for Peace (@AfgWomen4Peace) February 20, 2019
In every province, Afghan Women for Peace brought together university students and female governmental employees, as well as literate and illiterate women looking to contribute.
Together they have shared their demands and thoughts on peace.
The woman's jirga councils are taking place in provinces across Afghanistan. Photos used with permission from Afghan Women for Peace.
The organizers have spoken about the role of women in the government and in society, and shared ways to have a positive impact on society and make their voices heard by local and national authorities.
The first aim is to create a national consensus that Afghan women shouldn't be forgotten. Women need to take part in the peace talks and share their demands and expectations for the future of the county.
The woman's jirga councils are taking place in provinces across Afghanistan. Photos used with permission from Afghan Women for Peace.
Conferences have already been held in a number of provinces including Panjshir, Khost, Parwan, Baghlan, Ghazni, and Logar. Conferences will continue in 28 other provinces over coming weeks.
What follows are the highlights  of the conference Khost province:
At the conclusion of every conference, participants approve such a resolution about the priorities and problems facing local women.
While no date has yet been set for the national-level jirga (tribal council), the event promises to bring together the work of all the provincial level groups.
Work at the provincial level is important. Whilst there are women representatives in the parliament in Kabul, women governors are very rare, as is female representation in other important. For many women in the frontier provinces, these jirgas have been a first-ever opportunity to participate in the political process and have their voices heard.
Women in Ghazni stated:
Peace does not mean just an end to the war, and no country can be successful in its national programs without the participation of women; therefore women must have a role in the social and political peace process.

author: Raziya Masumi