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Hydrogen: Savior or boondoggle for Russia? · Global Voices
Transitions Online

A hydrogen fuel station. Photo by Bexim via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Russian government’s just-released strategy document for the development of hydrogen as an energy source could be viewed as a turning point in Russia’s energy industry. At the same time, the document carries a familiar message: as the world gradually moves toward decarbonization, Russia is reluctant to lose its status as an energy superpower. With no intention of restricting production of its oil and gas resources, Russia wants to become a dominant global exporter of a new fuel – hydrogen.
Specifically, through the development of this new energy vector, Russia foresees exporting up to 50 million tons of hydrogen by mid-century, bringing an additional $23 billion to $100 billion to the annual budget. More ambitiously, the country intends to take up to 20 percent of the to-be-established global hydrogen market. Although, on paper, this might look like a feasible goal, Russia’s way towards new energy dominance might be bumpy.
Dubbed by some the Swiss army knife of fuels, hydrogen is unique in many ways. As the universe’s most abundant element, it will never be in short supply. It can transform one form of energy (electrical) into another (chemical), store it for a long time and be transported to where it is needed. Most remarkably, however, it does not emit carbon dioxide when combusted. In fact, it generates only water as a byproduct.
These are just some of the reasons why many of the world’s most progressive signatories of the Paris Agreement on climate change have already adopted their national frameworks for hydrogen development, starting with Japan in 2017 and South Korea, New Zealand, and Australia in 2019. Norway, Germany, and the Netherlands were among the first European nations to publish their own strategies, in 2020. Seconding these efforts, the European Union adopted its hydrogen strategy in July 2020.
Viewing hydrogen as a core element in the consolidation of Europe’s energy sectors, the European Commission declares this fuel to be “essential to support the EU’s commitment to reach carbon neutrality.” With this in mind, it set an ambitious target of 40 gigawatts of electrolyzer capacity (using electrical energy to split water into its component hydrogen and oxygen) within Europe by 2030 to produce “renewable” or “green” hydrogen, which is regarded as the ultimate priority.
At the same time, being aware of the technological and financial constraints associated with such a comprehensive shift in the bloc’s energy industries, the EU recognizes that other cheaper and more available forms of “low-carbon” hydrogen (both domestically produced and imported) will have to play a role “in the short and medium term.”
Since the EU is one of the key export markets for the Russian energy industry, losing such an important partner in the energy transition battle is not viewed as an option by the Kremlin. Although the government’s hydrogen “concept,” as the document is titled, declares a goal of pursuing “green” hydrogen, in the short term, Russia will technically be unable to supply zero-carbon hydrogen to the EU primarily due to the insignificant share of renewables in national power production. At the same time, the short- and medium-term uncertainty around supplies of “low-carbon” hydrogen to Europe creates a window of opportunity for the Russian energy sector, traditionally strong in hydrocarbons and nuclear.
In particular, as the exact definition of suitable types of “low-carbon” hydrogen for the EU is yet to be agreed upon, the potential hydrogen color palette for the European market will probably go beyond green. The future spectrum will likely feature “blue” (fossil fuel-based hydrogen), “purple” (produced by electrolyzers using nuclear power), and “turquoise” (generated by methane pyrolysis).
At the same time, to take full advantage of this potential opportunity, Russia will need to significantly reshape its energy environment. For instance, to fully develop “blue” hydrogen, Gazprom and Novatek – the country’s two natural gas exporters – will need to invest in carbon capture and storage (CCS). Though both already seem to be interested, no significant large-scale CCS projects have yet been launched in Russia. Then there is the matter of delivering this form of hydrogen over large distances to the end users – a dilemma that will also need to be solved.
Similarly, with the growing interest in the development of methane pyrolysis, Gazprom has expressed its intention to produce “turquoise” hydrogen potentially close to the end market. With this in mind, the company has already conducted negotiations with such international partners as Germany. While this will dramatically reduce the generation costs, it is still not clear whether the EU will be willing to countenance the use of Russian methane to produce hydrogen fuel on its territory and, more importantly, when this technology will be finally commercialized.
Another giant Russian energy company, the nuclear monopoly Rosatom, has declared its intent to develop “purple” hydrogen. Rosatom already has floated ambitious plans to invest in renewables, and will likely look into developing zero-carbon hydrogen as well. Here, however, the same uncertainty of long-distance transportation appears to be a stumbling block.
Although the Russian hydrogen strategy is the most recent and detailed publicly available document on the Kremlin’s thinking on hydrogen, it is far from dramatically changing the rules of the game in the country’s energy sector. In fact, just like many other similar documents that are supposed to drive the development of the Russian energy industry, it appears to be reactive rather than pro-active, as it was adopted more than a year after the country’s key energy partners formulated their own hydrogen strategies.
More importantly, however, the concept is clearly export-oriented and does not mention significant steps for developing large-scale domestic hydrogen demand that would not be related to export activities. Here, lack of strong internal demand for hydrogen among the country’s own industries, businesses, and population is a factor that can make Russia’s hydrogen industry particularly vulnerable to external factors such as changes in hydrogen type preferences in the target markets.
For instance, with the rapid buildup of the EU’s “green” hydrogen potential, Russian “low-carbon” hydrogen may ultimately find itself pushed out of the European market. Alternatively, in even closer perspective, the European carbon border tax could potentially minimize the cost advantage of the various colors of Russian hydrogen fuel. As a result, the country’s newly built hydrogen sector may prove unable to fully serve its purpose and generate the expected revenues.
Finally, even with no significant upheavals on the future global hydrogen market, the new Russian hydrogen concept may remain a paper tiger if the country does not build up its export potential as planned. Here, given the current desperate need for foreign technologies across many segments of Russia’s energy sector, reaching the declared targets on its own is unlikely to be feasible. This appears to be even more doubtful in the adverse environment of international sanctions, when large-scale cross-border cooperation in most fields is constantly challenged.

author: Transitions Online


text:
Masks save lives, but they’re also becoming a gargantuan waste problem · Global Voices
The Record (Nepal)

Image by Deewash Shrestha via Record Nepal. Used with permission.
This article by Prasansha Rimal was first published on The Record (Nepal) and an edited version is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.
Waste management, especially in the medical sector, was already a problem area in Nepal and it only got worse during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a September 2020 World Bank report, 2,600 tonnes of waste are dumped in landfills every day in Nepal. The report estimates that, among the total waste generated, as much as 56 percent is organic, 16 percent glass, 8 percent paper, and 13 percent plastic. However, plastic products — especially single-use utensils, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), surgical masks, face shields, and gloves — have become much more ubiquitous since the pandemic began.
These plastic products are not just essential to keeping hospitals running and protecting frontline workers, but have also become common to domestic households as wearing a mask before going out has become routine. But, with more masks, gloves, gowns, and disposable bags being used, they are also being disposed of just as frequently.
Raj Krishna Shrestha sips tea as he waits for people to come to his truck to dispose of their household waste. Early every morning, 52-year-old Shrestha drives his truck from Balkumari to Lagankhel, parks in front of the Patan Hospital, and waits to collect the waste from the previous day. Then, he drives around collecting more waste around the vicinity before dumping it in Balkumari.
This has long been Shrestha’s everyday routine. While not much has changed for him since the pandemic started, one thing that is different is the waste he collects every day — there’s a lot more plastic now.
One study from February 2021 estimates that, since the pandemic started, the global amount of plastic waste generated is 1.6 million tons per day. The study further estimates that 3.4 billion single-use face masks and shields are being discarded every day. Covid-19 has reversed the momentum of a years-long global battle to reduce plastic waste pollution, say the authors. According to estimates by Grand View Research, a global business consulting firm, the sales of disposable face masks skyrocketed from 800 million US dollars in 2019 to 166 billion in 2020. Such a sharp increase in the purchase of disposable face masks correlates with an increase in the amount of waste.
And that’s only part of the story. What is concerning is not just the amount of waste that is being generated but the mismanagement of its disposal. For waste workers like Shrestha, this has led to increased fears of getting infected.
“Nobody separates their household waste into degradable and non-degradable waste. This is hazardous for us and clearly shows that people don’t think twice about what happens to the masks or gloves they have used while infected,” said Shrestha. “It also shows that people have little regard for our work and safety.”
Various studies have found the Covid-19 virus can survive up to 72 hours on plastic, and discarding used masks and gloves along with other household waste could risk strengthening the chain of transmission.
“The amount of surgical masks and other plastics has definitely increased. Sometimes, it is frightening to have to pick up surgical masks because you never know who might have used them. But we cannot stop working. We have families to look after,” said Urmila Deula, a 40-year-old sweeper appointed by Lalitpur municipality.
Image by Deewash Shrestha via Record Nepal. Used with permission.
“In Nepal, data on how much plastic use has increased since the pandemic hasn't been calculated yet, owing to a lack of resources and manpower. However, it is safe to say plastic waste has increased since the pandemic started from just looking at the increasing amount of day-to-day use of surgical masks, gloves, and sanitizer bottles,” said Dr Buddhi Sagar Poudel, spokesperson of the Ministry of Forests and Environment.
In addition to a lack of personnel and budget to segregate waste, there’s a larger problem: a general lack of consciousness among the public regarding waste disposal.
“People do not think about separating their household waste and because of this, waste like masks and gloves are directly going to landfills,” said Poudel.
There is legislation in place — like the Solid Waste Management Act 2011 and the Health Care Waste Management Guidelines 2014 — that mandates waste segregation. The Health Care Waste Management Guidelines recommend that health institutions not mix their non-risk waste with other kinds of waste and that health institutions should dispose of their medical waste themselves.
Larger hospitals like Bir Hospital, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, and Patan Hospital are able to properly dispose of the waste themselves as they have the resources. Private hospitals like Alka Hospital in Lalitpur are also attempting to do the same.
“We autoclave medical waste related to Covid-19, as this reduces the risk of spread of the virus through medical waste,” said Navaraj Thapa, manager at the lab of Alka Hospital.
But not all hospitals follow the guidelines, and local bodies and households do not bother with waste segregation.
“We have issued instructions asking that the waste produced in households, which might be infectious, like surgical masks, clothing, or other materials used by Covid-19 infected persons, should be kept separately for 72 hours before mixing it with other types of waste produced in the household,” said Sarkar Bir Shrestha, in-charge of the Okharpauwa landfill site. “But we don’t have any mechanism in place to check if the public is following our instructions.”
A simple solution to this problem would be to choose sustainable, environment-friendly alternatives over plastic. Washable, reusable cloth masks, for one, could help. A research paper on cloth masks found that textile products that have less than 300 TPI (threads per inch) have filtration efficiency above 80 percent, which provides good protection against the virus. The paper also recommends another alternative to single-use masks — using two layers of cotton or flannel masks of at least 100 TPI. A well-fitted multi-layer mask combining a layer of 600 TPI cotton and electrostatic filtering produces an efficiency of over 90 percent, comparable to those achieved by N95 respirators, says the paper.
“In addition to encouraging the use of cloth masks, another solution to tackle the problem of increasing plastic waste would be to incinerate medical waste or discard it properly in structured landfill sites,” said Stuti Sharma, partnerships and advocacy lead at Doko Recyclers.
But in the long-term, the old principle of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ remains the only sustainable way to tackle increasing plastic pollution, say experts. Everyone — individuals, organizations, hospitals, and local bodies — must do their part.
“The chance of Covid-19 spreading is higher when there is lack of participation of the community,” said Prakash Pathak, managing director of Scrap Recycle Foundation. “The authorities need to come up with an alternative to surgical masks and PPE, as this would reduce the amount of plastic production at the source. But more importantly, everyone needs to just take responsibility to properly sort their waste.”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: The Record (Nepal)


text:
Ukraine: 30 years in pursuit of equality · Global Voices
openDemocracy

Military parade in Kyiv in honor of Ukraine's 30th independence anniversary, August 24, 2021. Screenshot from YouTube.
This article by Serhiy Guz originally appeared on Open Democracy and is republished as part of a content-sharing partnership, with minor edits to fit Global Voices style.
On August 24, Ukraine celebrated 30 years of independence with pomp. The government prepared lavish celebrations, including a parade through the centre of Kyiv, the capital. And for the past month, Ukrainian television has been broadcasting what can only be described as propaganda videos to mark the event.
But the real situation of assessing popular attitudes towards Ukraine’s independence is not as clear-cut as it might seem from the outside. In December 1991, as the Soviet Union began to disintegrate, 92 per cent of Ukrainian citizens voted for independence in a historic referendum. Yet in December 2020, only 68 per cent of citizens were ready to support it, according to survey data from the Razumkov Centre think tank and Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
Indeed, the Razumkov Centre established an interesting factor in the level of popular support for independence: the worse the economic situation in Ukraine, the fewer supporters of independence to be found. According to the same data, the lowest support for independence was recorded in 2003, on the eve of the Orange Revolution—then only 46.5 per cent of respondents were ready to vote for independence.
“Rational arguments played an important role in the campaign for independence on the eve of Ukraine’s 1991 referendum,” according to the Razumkov Centre. “The main motif of campaign materials [in 1991] was the idea that Ukraine produces much more than it consumes: to achieve a European standard of living, it would be enough for Ukraine to free itself from the networks of the Soviet Union.”
Leaflets in Ukrainian and Russian showing Ukraine's economic power ahead of the December 1991 independence referendum. Source: Narodnyi Rukh.
This prospect is reflected in leaflets distributed throughout Ukraine in 1991. When the statistics from the leaflet are compared with today’s data, it’s clear that the production of coal and sugar has fallen by five times, while production of steel and milk has halved, and production of iron ore and meat has fallen slightly less.
Behind the drop in these production indicators lies the cruel arithmetic of hundreds and thousands of closed mines, factories and workshops, large farms destroyed, millions of lost jobs.
Instead of the prosperity that was hoped for, Ukraine has experienced economic crises and social upheavals over and over again. This rollercoaster of crises means that the country does not have time to get out of one before another one crashes in—each time only managing to adapt to new conditions rather than recover. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent breakdown of production chains across the USSR led to completely different results to the ones Ukrainians were promised.
According to the most recent data from the Ukrainian State Statistics Office, 67 per cent of Ukrainians consider themselves poor, and only 1 per cent believe they are middle class. Another third of Ukrainians do not consider themselves poor, but don’t consider themselves middle class, either.
This is the reality after 30 years of liberal market reforms, the ruthless reduction of significant social guarantees like free medicine or education, which today are only “free” on paper. All these years, the Ukrainian authorities have been talking about radical reforms for the sake of the “middle class,” but only an insignificant minority of Ukrainians consider themselves to be part of this group.
Of course, these sorts of policies could only ever result in negative consequences. According to the Razumkov Centre, “the mobilisation of residents of southern and eastern Ukraine, disappointed with the ‘fruits of independence’, was part of Russia’s scenario of the ‘Russian spring’”—when Russia campaigned to whip up public opinion in support of separatism during Ukraine’s 2014 revolution and its aftermath. And these regional attitudes towards independence are still at play today.
Instead of initiating reforms to improve the lives of Ukraine’s poor, politicians and officials dismiss them as ‘biomass’ and ‘beggars’
But instead of initiating reforms to benefit the majority of Ukrainians who live poorly, politicians and officials offer offensive rhetoric describing citizens who are dissatisfied with reforms or who express nostalgia for better living conditions. These people are called “biomass” and “beggars” who are unable to build “even a doghouse,” or “Soviets” nostalgic for the USSR.
These people are stripped of their political voice through bans or attacks on left-wing political parties. Ukraine’s decommunisation laws, restrictions on the use of the Russian language, and extrajudicial bans on opposition media outlets accused of pro-Russian politics only add fuel to the fire of the disaffected.
The situation is no better in Ukraine’s trade unions, which are also under attack as authorities attempt to remove property they had inherited during the collapse of the USSR.
Ukraine’s trade union movement is split, disorganised and has long been unable to bring millions of its members to any meaningful protest actions, even when the Ukrainian government was trying to deprive the unions of their influence or developing new labour legislation that would cancel the last remaining social guarantees open to Ukrainian citizens.
As a result, the discontent of the poorest, but largest section of the country’s citizens, spills over into spontaneous protests, as was the case earlier this year during the “tariff riots,” when steep increases in energy costs brought people in towns and villages across Ukraine out to protest.
These protests are easily quashed by Ukrainian authorities as they are not supported by political demands. To suppress them, it is enough to temporarily deviate from market principles, for example, by prolonging the state regulation of tariffs for electricity or heating—as happened in response to the tariff protests.
This discontent is also fertile ground for various populist parties and projects, often backed by Ukrainian oligarchs. It was this discontent that brought President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Servant of the People party to power in 2019, when they promised Ukrainians “the end of the era of poverty.” Likewise, in 2014, Petro Poroshenko and his European Solidarity political party (then known as All-Ukrainian Solidarity Union) had come to power on the peaceful rhetoric of an early end to the war with Russia and an uncompromising fight against corruption.
Alas, neither peace nor the end of the era of poverty has arrived. And as yesterday’s supporters and opponents of the Servant of the People party now joke, it seems that the era of poverty has ended only for a select few.
We’re left with a paradox: no matter who wins the elections in independent Ukraine, instead of their promised restoration of social justice, governments pursue an increasingly tough course of economic liberalisation, simultaneously trying to neutralise their political opponents. And this path often finds support among the population.
According to a survey by Vox Populi Agency held in December 2019, one in five Ukrainians said they believed that authoritarianism was better than democracy. A third of the respondents did not see a difference between authoritarianism and democracy.
One in four Ukrainians polled said they feared that the president enjoys an excessive concentration of power
In February this year, 49 per cent of Ukrainians supported the closure of three opposition TV channels, which had been accused by the authorities of pro-Russian coverage. These channels—112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK—were then closed, without any court order, by the National Security and Defense Council and a presidential decree. Previously, no president of Ukraine had dared to impose such extrajudicial sanctions on the media.
Polls show that Ukrainians fear authoritarianism from the current government. According to a poll by the Info Sapiens research agency in August 2021, 48 per cent of respondents said they considered government decisions that go against Ukraine’s constitution to be the main threat to the state over the next three years. In the same poll, one in four said they feared an excessive concentration of power in the hands of Zelenskyy.
Despite these fears and the falling support for independence, polls show that over the past 20 years, opposition to independence has also gone down. According to the Razumkov Centre, during this period the number of opponents of independence decreased from 29.2 per cent to 12.5.
Today, for the majority of Ukrainians, the concept of “Ukrainian independence”—and, above all, independence from Russia—has become an absolute value in itself. And this makes the prospect of giving it up impossible as long as the issue depends on Ukrainians themselves.
Yet the dreams of social and material wellbeing, justice and democracy that were at the heart of the 1991 referendum remain unfulfilled for many.
These dreams are likely to be drowned out again by propaganda or the next round of promises of a brighter future. After the fireworks clear, Ukrainians will still face the same problems that have remained unresolved for the past 30 years.

author: openDemocracy


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After weeks of hesitancy and soaring COVID numbers, Jamaicans crowd vaccination centres · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, a shipment of which arrived in Jamaica on August 19, 2021. Photo by Marco Verch Professional Photographer on Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
Jamaica’s struggle against COVID-19 and its Delta variant has been full of twists and turns. August 24, the third of a week-long “No Movement Day” restriction aimed at curbing a major surge in new infections, saw plenty of movement in and around vaccination centres in several rural areas, with the Ministry of Health and Wellness happily reporting that a record 21,000 doses had been administered.
Even before the presence of the Delta variant was confirmed on August 18, the number of new cases had been rising steeply, and now stand at 90 per cent of the peak on March 19. Currently, there is a daily average of 625 new infections. A portion of this spike was attributed to large entertainment events that were permitted over the Emancipation/Independence holidays in early August. By August 23, there were close to 14,000 active cases reported on the island, with 149 critically ill patients in hospital.
Blogger and human rights activist Susan Goffe painted a grim picture, noting that new cases had reached a record high by August 22:
We are in our third wave of Covid-19 in Jamaica […] indicators are all going in the wrong direction, with our vaccination levels too low to have any significant collective impact on the effects of this wave […]
The report issued [with data from August 23, 2021] saw a record number of new cases being confirmed — 879, the highest single day total since the start of the pandemic.
Our hospitals and medical personnel are being overwhelmed […] it is going to get worse before it gets better. Actions taken now, by the government and the people, can help to reduce further infections and further deaths. But downplaying what’s happening, wishing it weren’t so or ignoring the science will not.
A shipment of the Pfizer vaccine, the first of three tranches donated by the United States, arrived in Jamaica on August 19, with rollout starting just two days later, on August 21. The 208,260 doses were earmarked for the 12 to 18 age group in the hope that they will be able to return to physical school by October. Though slow at first, uptake increased rapidly as COVID numbers reached record highs over the weekend, with some adults also being allowed to take the Pfizer vaccine.
In an effort to encourage the population to get vaccinated, Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ wife tweeted a family photo after their teenaged sons got the vaccine:
#GetVaxed
Our boy's received their first dose of the pfizer vaccine.
I encourage all parents to make use of the vaccination opportunity available to ensure our precious children are protected and vaccinated. Let's all play our role in this process. #DoTheRightThing#GetVaxed pic.twitter.com/88FiKvFWJF
— Juliet Holness (@JulietHolness) August 22, 2021
The question of parental consent for their children to be vaccinated has also arisen. Since the age of consent in Jamaica is 16, one youth advocacy group suggested that anyone older should not require parental consent:
We are by no means advocating for the wanton vaccination of children without their parent's knowledge or involvement. However, by law children 16 and over can consent to medical procedures and we do not see a reason why that should not apply here. pic.twitter.com/vWpfKKevEd
— JYAN (@youthadvocateja) August 24, 2021
One informal Twitter poll conducted by the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper agreed:
#TalkbackTuesday: A youth advocacy group has called for teenagers 16 years and older to be allowed to get vaccinated without parental consent. Do you agree? #GLNRTalk
— Jamaica Gleaner (@JamaicaGleaner) August 24, 2021
The push for vaccinations has gradually intensified, with bodies like the influential Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica mobilising its members to get their employees vaccinated:
Thank you @GruppoCampari for joining in efforts to get our productive sector fully vaccinated!#vaccinated#VaccinesWork#workwiddivaccine https://t.co/0DNVP8UWvL
— The PSOJ (@thePSOJ) August 25, 2021
Even the equally influential churches have come on board, participating in a webinar organised by the health ministry:
Church leaders say amen to vaccines https://t.co/4MjARNiZKj via @JamaicaObserver
— Dr. Chris Tufton (@christufton) August 20, 2021
The Jamaica Council of Churches (JCC) subsequently issued a press release strongly supporting the vaccine drive—a huge breakthrough, given that religious concerns were identified as a principal reason for vaccine hesitancy among Jamaicans. Referring to science as “a gift from God,” the August 23 release concluded:
We therefore implore, beseech and encourage all Jamaicans who have not yet been vaccinated to do so as soon as it is possible, sparing no effort or cost. In addition, we encourage continued adherence to the long-established protocols […]
Our understanding of the sanctity of life demands that we work in personal and communal settings to preserve life and the quality of life.
Meanwhile, there were some logistical concerns during the vaccination effort, with complaints of overcrowding, some people being turned away, and at least one rural centre running out of vaccines.
There was some online discussion about Jamaicans’ heightened interest in the Pfizer vaccine as opposed to the AstraZeneca, which arrived in Jamaica on July 30 as a gift from the United Kingdom.
One Twitter user shared her experience:
All my family members in America took the Pfizer, I was definitely waiting on it to hit jamaica, I knew it was a matter of time before the US sponsored us. Went to Merl Grove on Sunday and got through briefly, went Monday to bring my niece waited 4 hours, the place was ram packed
— Her Majesty (@DeeshaRoy) August 25, 2021
However, another suggested the rush to vaccination centres was sparked because Jamaicans are alarmed at the rising numbers of COVID-19 infections and continuous reports of overwhelmed medical facilities:
They weren't waiting on a specific vaccine, is because they see people dying in close range and seeing how flooded the hospital is.
— BrowningGordon (@browningbae) August 24, 2021
Yet, at least one centre offering AstraZeneca seemed to be quieter:
Lol Mona Ageing and Wellness Centre is only doing Astrazeneca so they were EMPTYYY. Fight for Pfizer if you want but stop complaining, there's another option pic.twitter.com/JROkdhlhOT
— YouTube: Sho Lee (@fosho_Lee) August 24, 2021
Men's interest in the Pfizer vaccine, one columnist humorously suggested, might be piqued by the company's manufacture of another drug:
Apparently this has turned a lot of men on to Pfizer recently
Honestly, at this point any positive spin that results in the skeptics getting vaxxed will be a win? pic.twitter.com/N0Z2uT8vW2
— My Word for 2021 is FOCUS (@yaneekpage) August 26, 2021
Whatever the motivation for getting “vaxxed”, the Jamaican government is keeping fingers crossed that the momentum of the record-breaking day will continue. With one of the lowest vaccination rates in Latin American and the Caribbean, it has a lot of catching up to do.

author: Emma Lewis


text:
Earth Defenders Toolkit launched to help communities navigate digital tools for defending environmental rights · Global Voices
Subhashish Panigrahi

Earth Defenders Toolkit website main page (Fair Use, copyrighted by Earth Defenders Toolkit)
On July 14, American nonprofit Digital Democracy launched the Earth Defenders Toolkit to equip grassroots environmental protection communities with resources and training materials. The toolkit is designed to provide an ecosystem for these earth defenders to connect and share their experiences and useful resources. It is currently available in four languages — English, French, Portuguese and Spanish — and is open for translation into other languages.
#PL490Não – O Earth Defenders Toolkit já está disponível! Confira o kit de ferramentas @DigiDem com recursos para comunidades na linha de frente da luta para proteger ecossistemas críticos e uma rede comunitária para conectar defensores de territórios ao redor do mundo. pic.twitter.com/BZMg0ybNer
— Witness Brasil (@WitnessBrasil) June 30, 2021
#PL490No – Earth Defenders Toolkit is now available! Check out the toolkit @ Digital Democracy with resources for communities at the front lines of the fight to protect critical ecosystems and a community network to connect territory defenders around the world.
The toolkit has a growing collection of apps, resources and blogs for indigenous peoples, helping them to connect with each other and with their supporters, as well as mobilize different campaigns and projects. The communities can maintain ownership of data, and need less outside support. For example, the toolkit boasts an interactive tool finder, which helps users find out what is available and parse it for what might be more aligned to their goals.
A Digital Toolkit is Strengthening Indigenous Voices:
Technology isn’t always a practical solution for Indigenous peoples, but the Earth Defenders Toolkit collects apps, resources & blogs where Indigenous peoples can come together to connect & mobilize.https://t.co/Ue0RvXDZtV pic.twitter.com/2x2fcCThCy
— Capitals Coalition (@CapsCoalition) August 3, 2021
Global Voices interviewed Rudo Kemper, geographer and a program manager at Digital Democracy, via email, who explained different aspects of the toolkit.
Rising Voices (RV): What are the issues/gaps the Earth Defenders Toolkit is trying to address?
Rudo Kemper (RK): At Digital Democracy, our mission is to work in solidarity with marginalized communities to use technology to defend their rights. Our recent focus has been building tools like Mapeo that respond to the needs of partners facing urgent threats of environmental and political abuses. However, through our close work and accompaniment with communities in South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia over the past decade, we have learned that taking action consists of much more than technology alone. Tools and technology can play an important role in a community’s struggle to defend its rights, but their application is the most effective when they accompany or build upon a foundation of already existing successful practices.
With Earth Defenders Toolkit (EDT), we are creating a collaborative space for earth-defender communities and their allies to learn about, share, and discuss approaches to using technology only as a tool in the broader process. Using technology to support local autonomy and ownership over data still remains one of our core values. This would in turn help avoid dependencies on outside support. EDT is our attempt to compile resources and guides about using tools directly for the benefit of frontline communities.
RV: What is included in the EDT?
RK: In this first version 1.0 of the Earth Defenders Toolkit, we are providing a host of resources including a community forum and gallery, illustrated case studies, an interactive tool finder and featured tools. Each component is tailored for the usage by earth-defender communities, and [is] highly guided by research conducted with our community partners based on the concrete needs and frequent pain points encountered during an action. For instance, the Toolfinder can guide through a series of prompts and help identify the specific tools that might work for a frontline community based on desired outcomes, access to equipment, and unique needs (e.g. translatability, ability to work remotely or offline). Tools are broken down to the respective pros and cons as well.
The illustrated case studies break down how a community managed to succeed in taking an action in a step-by-step manner. Similarly, the featured tools highlight how they work and their value specifically for earth-defender communities. EDT also features several hands-on guides for getting started by figuring out initial starting points, and for starting a mapping project. The practical exercises and modules provided can be used during a workshop. All of the content is formatted to be printed, and can easily be translated to any language through a dedicated platform.
RK: Our sincere hope [is] for the Earth Defenders Toolkit to become this space to be directly and frequently used by frontlines communities across the globe. The current resources are prepared in close collaboration with our partners, but we consider the Toolkit to be a living and open project where the community of users can contribute to and determine its future direction as much as possible. We also hope to add more resources in the future. For this first launch, we focused on geo-mapping and monitoring tools and approaches in particular. However, in our research interviews with partners, we continually hear about other needs including bespoke tools to support secure communications, social networks, language revitalization and activism, offline networking, media distribution and advocacy. As we grow EDT's resource scope, we aim to learn about community needs to grow task-oriented materials that serve their needs without seeding a relationship of dependency on outside support.
RK: We researched many existing toolkits and resource directories while setting out to create EDT. We were inspired by the vision, design, and thoughtfulness of many existing resources such as Beautiful Trouble's Toolbox and the All Eyes on the Amazon learning platform among others. One particular platform that focused on citizen-led and participatory mapping caught our attention — Training Kit for Participatory Spatial Information Management and Communication which was [put] together by the EU-ACP Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Published in 2010 after years of extensive research on best practices, lessons learned, and case studies on participatory community mapping worldwide, the project presents a formidable archive of resources on the subject.
That said, it includes a curriculum and numerous training modules for different target groups such as technology intermediaries who work with communities instead of communities themselves. To add to that gap, the platform was not frequently updated after publication to accommodate the evolving needs on the frontlines and the availability of new tools and approaches. It might have even lost a part of its ability to be easily applied [on] the ground today even though much of the knowledge behind it continues to be valuable.
Rudo also emphasized how the Earth Defenders Toolkit was a learning exercise from the detailed work from CTA and IFAD to take things a step forward by producing resources directly for communities. By including new tools and technologies that have been co-created with communities, and by structuring itself as an open and evolving space that can continue to be updated long into the future, the toolkit aims to address the issues that grassroots earth-defender communities face on the ground.
Rudo quotes Pooven Moodley, the Executive Director of Natural Justice and a board member of Digital Democracy at the Africa Forum for Earth Defenders: “The use of digital technology that is accessible to communities directly is what is going to make a difference, not the technology that is sitting in the hands of experts or only a few people.”

author: Subhashish Panigrahi


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Protestors call for the resignation of Thailand’s Prime Minister Gen Prayut · Global Voices
Prachatai

Protesters flashed the three-finger salute at an August 19 protest. One was also holding a placard saying “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” Photo by Anna Lawattanatrakul / Prachatai
The original version of this article was published by Prachatai, an independent news site in Thailand, and was edited and republished by Global Voices under a content-sharing agreement.
The activist group Thalufah staged daily demonstrations from August 16–22 to protest the Thai government’s alleged mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, while demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha.
The protests continued throughout the week though the August 16 and August 17 protest marches were violently dispersed by crowd control police. On August 18, the group staged a protest at Bangkok's Democracy Monument — the first of their protests to conclude without being forcibly dispersed.
They returned to the Democracy Monument on August 19, for another demonstration, during which they wrapped the monument's model of a palm-leaf manuscript representing the Constitution in black cloth to convey the hopelessness of the situation. They also burned pictures of cabinet members, government MPs, and senators as a symbolic act of protest.
On August 20, Thalufah organized a protest caravan visiting three embassies across Bangkok to file petitions criticizing the COVID-19 vaccination program and Thai authorities’ use of violence against pro-democracy protesters.
The group first went to the Embassy of Switzerland to file a petition about the recent use of force to disperse pro-democracy protesters, which may have been in violation of the Geneva Conventions and other international laws. The group called on Switzerland, as a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross, to investigate Gen Prayut's government for possible Conventions violations.
They then went to the US Embassy to file a petition regarding the 1.5 million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines that the US government donated to Thailand. There were reports that military personnel received the vaccine ahead of medical workers, with frontline medical staff not receiving enough vaccines while non-medical personal appeared on lists of Pfizer vaccine recipients.
The group called for the US government to follow up on the Thai government’s allocation of the Pfizer vaccine to make sure the vaccines were allocated fairly, as well as to condemn the alleged vaccine corruption.
A group representative holding a copy of their petition in front of the Embassy of Switzerland. Photo by Anna Lawattanatrakul / Prachatai
The caravan’s final stop was the Chinese Embassy, where they submitted a petition asking the Chinese authorities to inquire into the Thai government’s purchase of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine and to suspend the purchase. The petition also stated that the Thai government is not being transparent about its vaccine purchases from China.
Thalufah also went to the United Nations building on Saturday, August 21, to file a petition with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) calling for the OHCHR to investigate human rights violations in Thailand over the past year, especially within the judicial system. They also asked the UN to issue a letter to the Thai government raising concerns about these violations and calling on it to follow international principles. They hope the OHCHR will provide assistance to pro-democracy activists being detained pending trial on charges relating to the exercise of freedom of expression and the right to peacefully assemble.
A poster with Gen Prayut's face was splattered with red paint and scattered around the Victory Monument before the 16 August protest march. Photo by Anna Lawattanatrakul / Prachatai
The protesters returned to the Democracy Monument on Sunday, August 22, with a sports-themed protest. The event began with a parade led by Thanat Thanakitamnuay, a former leader of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) who recently joined the pro-democracy movement, holding a sign saying “The people’s fraternity.”
Thanat lost vision in his right eye after he was injured during a clash between protesters and crowd control police at the Din Daeng intersection on August 13, after police fired a tear gas canister into his face. His family has vowed to pursue legal action against those responsible for his injuries.
Thanat Thanakitamnuay joining the parade. Photo by Anna Lawattanatrakul / Prachatai
A series of speeches were given during the protest between various sporting events, including tug of war and futsal. A group of skateboarders also staged a performance while other protestors threw bags of paint at a vinyl banner with Gen Prayut’s face.
A protester skatboarding next to the Democracy Monument during the protest. Photo by Anna Lawattanatrakul / Prachatai
Meanwhile, another protest took place at the Din Daeng intersection on Sunday, August 22. The group of protesters now known as the “Thalu Gaz” (“Piercing through gas”) group clashed with crowd control police stationed in front of the Royal Thai Army Band Department headquarters, throwing ping pong bombs and marbles at the police lines. The police retaliated with rubber bullets, water cannons, and a Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD).
The protesters, most of whom were riding motorcycles, were trying to get past police barriers to the 1st Infantry Regiment headquarters to demand that Gen Prayut resign.
Crowd control police were also stationed in front of the Veterans General Hospital, along with two water cannon trucks. At 6:10 pm, the police forced the protesters to retreat by firing tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannon blasts.
The Din Daeng intersection has been a site of daily clashes between protesters and crowd control police for the past week, as protesters repeatedly attempted to break through the police barriers to reach the 1st Infantry Regiment headquarters, where Gen Prayut lives.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that at least 42 people were arrested following the Sunday protests.
TLHR said that 19 of those arrested were minors, and at least 11 were injured during their arrest. They were charged with violation of the Emergency Decree, holding an assembly of more than 10 people, and disturbing public peace. One person was charged with possessing a weapon, while another was charged with possessing an explosive device.

author: Prachatai


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‘Recovering a Central American Native identity is key to stopping our erasure’ · Global Voices
Samaria Polet Carias Ayala

Painting by the author, Samaria Polet Carias Ayala, used with permission.
The people on Central American soil inculcated colonial thought through Spanish social norms and a Westernized education system. Children learn Spanish and the history of their own peoples through the voices of conquistadors and the texts they have left behind. This is then perpetuated by whitewashed educators who only tell the European side of the story.
Such voices seep into the hearts and minds of Indigenous peoples, corroding many who may want to identify with their Native background and ancestors, but feel a level of confusion, shame, and even guilt because of the lack of information regarding their Indigenous ancestry. Imagine wanting to connect to yourself and your family but having to put together very limited pieces of a stolen puzzle, while others around you perpetuate your erasure.
Recovering a nativo (Native) identity is key to the disruption of oppressive powers. In my experience, the term refers more to Central Americans who have, at some point, lived at one with the land but who now reside in the north of Turtle Island or in cities within Central America. The term indígena (Indigenous) is reserved for those who still live in isolation with Madre Tierra (Mother Earth) and without communion with the mestizaje (ethnic mixing) of the Americas.
Erasure means vilifying such identities as absurd. Erasure means stealing lands and driving the original peoples to barren or otherwise stressful environments such as urbanized locations with limited connection to the natural environment. Erasure means imposing mestizaje, an identity that is rooted in accepting Spanish conquest and neglecting the existence of natives prior to colonization.
In fact, according to Mujeres de Maíz, an online collective of Indigenous peoples, “Guatemala has one of the largest Indigenous populations in the world,” yet the Guatemalan government only recognizes a mere 40 per cent of the population as Indigenous, even though local Indigenous leaders state that they comprise over 60 per cent. This is one example of statistical erasure. This rings true for other Central American nation-states like Honduras, who only report “nearly 9% of the total population self-identify as a member of either an Indigenous or minority group.” Hence, any Native who has been disconnected from their indigeneity, who may also have been born in urban areas, is not recognized but rather identified as mestizo (mixed ancestry).
Natives on the tail of Turtle Island suffer the backlash of whitewashing, which makes having any Indigenous physical features and mannerisms undesirable traits among people who identify as mestizo. As Native Central Americans, we face some of the worst kinds of treatment a human being can undergo, such as forced assimilation, forced religious conversions, physical violence and cultural “cleansings,” which are truly genocide of our Native identities.
Still, we persist! We fly over a storm of exploitation and social pain as our Guacamaya (macaw) relatives would have. That is true perseverancia (perseverance) as my elders would say. We belong in this hemisphere, we have belonged here for hundreds of years before the ongoing colonization. We, Natives in the center of the Americas, are existing and resisting very powerful forces who hope to reign, via their erasure, over our Indigenous ideologies, connection to the land and protection of resources.
Injustices done to Indigenous peoples in the Americas include land theft, forced child labor, forced displacement, and brainwashing via the education systems. Our Native women have been the first to be exposed to religious missionaries and companies who often violate them and the land, who also take them to foreign northern lands to serve.
Many of my cousins and my own mother have been taken into colonialists’ hands this way, with foreigners enchanting them with lies of a better life, but the reality being dire once they settle in the North.
This is why Natives fight to stop construction projects by outside forces that continue to pillage, rape, and change the sacred landscape we live to protect. Today, the Garinagu on the coast of Honduras still fight for their land rights and demand the return of their stolen brothers; the Lenca in Gracias de Dios are only recognized on “El Dia del Indio Lempira,” while the Tawakh of my Nana’s aldea (grandmother's village) are more and more forgotten as there is no justice for their violent displacement, land theft, and pillage of their crops by drug traffickers and companies from the North. Erasure affects Native voices fighting for a way of life that centers on Madre Tierra and our flora and fauna relatives.
Map of Honduras showing where Indigenous people reside today
All this I speak from experience of being born and raised on Honduran land with Brown and Black complexions while being inexplicitly taught to disregard and neglect my Nativeness and reject my Blackness. I have endured forced assimilation to the colonial norms and been displaced from my original homeland. I am the living personification that we resist colonial teachings as we suffer the backlash of living as our Native selves.
While thinking of erasure, I asked Edwin Pastor, a photographer and Guatemalan Native about his experience being part of the Central American diaspora and trying to connect to his Indigeneity. He said:
I am living proof that roots cannot be eradicated. I think it is my responsibility to inherit my culture and keep it alive.
Pastor has made an effort to continue sacred cacao ceremonies with his twin brother, record the colorful existence of his elders and other Chapins (Guatemalans) in his dad’s hometown, Totonicapán, and inform others on the Maya K’iche’ festivals. He wants to one day create a collective to teach the young people in Totonicapán how to use cameras and provide them with tools to express their beautiful existence.
I, as an artist, try my best to revive ancient customs and show my ancestors they are remembered in their true beauty—as engineers, artists, architects, water protectors and honest traders. Their legacy lives within people like me. It is necessary to heal from the genocide of our identity and culture in order to reconnect and walk this life in peace and transparency. It is crucial for future generations to discard what does not serve us. We must leave behind colonial concepts such as homophobia, classism, possessive acquisition of lands and capitalistic ideals whereby capital is more important than Native livelihoods.
Deliberate anti-Indigenous tactics—such as violence, land theft, colonial schooling, and Catholicism—spark shame and guilt among Natives. There is no cultural pride when it comes to being called “indio” (Indian) since the word connotes savage and uncivilized peoples, in the view of a Christopher Columbus lost at sea.
When you tell a Honduran, who has been taught to identify with a nation-state, that they are an indio, you will often get a mystified response, “Yo? Yo no soy indio,” they will say with a level of disgust, as if identifying as such is utterly unacceptable, even if the person has very distinct Native features.
We are taught, explicitly or inexplicitly, to hate our monumental noses that would remind one of our ancestors’ ruins; we are taught to hate our dirt-colored skin which is to remind us of our fertile lands; we are taught hate when acceptance and tolerance is the way. It is truly disheartening to experience and internalize distorted perspectives of oneself. It took me going to the North, where I experienced further erasure of other groups of people to realize what was hidden inside of me and all those before me—that my Native identity, too, had been erased and vilified.
It is a struggle and a journey that starts with loving our Brown skin. To move forward, we must center and augment Native voices of the isthmus, especially those of Afro-Indigenous descent, because they are populations who have been the most erased. Although not all of us wear headdresses, as regalia is earned or given in ceremony, we each exist in our fullness with every Native having a distinct path. We need to be respected, heard, and feel seen. We are the seeds they so desperately try to plow and we will continue to grow and adapt. We are the new ancestors. Blessings to those who aid Indigenous people and house us without violence and cultural erasure.

author: Samaria Polet Carias Ayala


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Russian court issues bigger fines to social media companies for breaching data localization rules · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Image by Thomas Ulrich from Pixabay. Pixabay License.
A Moscow district court has hit social media giants with significant new fines for violating Russia's data localization requirements. The latest penalties add up to 36 million rubles, or over $485,000.
Facebook has been fined 15-million ruble ($202,000), while Twitter has been fined 17 million rubles ($229,000). WhatsApp, a messaging app owned by Facebook, received a separate fine of 4 million rubles ($54,000), according to a statement from Russian internet regulator Roskomnadzor.
The data localization law, adopted in 2015, requires all internet companies processing Russian users’ data to store such data on servers physically located inside Russia. The policy is aimed at giving the Russian state greater control over online content and communications. It also opens doors for extrajudicial access to user information, which is harder to achieve when personal data is sent or stored using services based outside of the country. While most social media companies still require court orders to support government requests for user data, it is significantly easier for state authorities to gain access to data that is stored locally, either by using surveillance technology or through direct access to company servers in their jurisdiction.
Some technology companies, such as Booking.com, Apple and Samsung, have reportedly complied with the legislation: according to Roskomnadzor, around 600 foreign technology companies with offices in Russia have already localized Russian users’ personal data. But Western social media companies have steadfastly ignored the Kremlin's demands, and it is unclear how they might react to the new fines.
Russian internet regulator Roskomnadzor has long threatened fines and even blocking for non-compliance, but so far only a few companies have faced palpable sanctions. In 2016, LinkedIn, a social network for professionals now owned by Microsoft, was blocked in Russia for refusing to comply with the data localization rules.
In February 2020, Facebook and Twitter were issued with a 4-million rouble fine each ($54,000), which they failed to pay, with Twitter appealing the fine in court. Commentators at the time noted that since neither company had a legal entity in Russia, it would be difficult to mandate they pay the fines. Google received a similar fine (3 million rubles or $41,000) in July 2021.
Russian data localization rules are hardly unique: countries from Germany and Canada to Vietnam and Indonesia have adopted their versions of rules for national data storage.
In March 2019, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg announced that the platform and its other services, Instagram and WhatsApp, would not store “sensitive” user information in countries with a “weak record” on human rights, though did not say which countries made this list.
In the past year, Russia has put new pressures on social media companies.
In the spring of 2021, Russian authorities cracked down on online networks for failing to remove protest-related content during mass pro-opposition rallies around the country. They also began throttling Twitter's loading speeds to punish the microblogging platform for failing to delete content deemed illegal by Russian censors.
In July 2021, President Vladimir Putin signed a new law that obliges foreign social media companies with over 500,000 daily views to open branch offices in Russia and register local legal entities. Non-compliant platforms could face advertising restrictions or blocking.

author: Tanya Lokot


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Who is glorifying terrorism: Hong Kong students or the Chinese government? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

An edited version of this meme appeared on the Facebook page: ‘I oppose police violence’
A meme contrasting a photo of China Foreign Minister Wang Yi standing side-by-side with Taliban representatives and a photo of students from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) went viral on social media on August 18, 2021. Some netizens sought to criticize the Hong Kong and Chinese government's apparent double standard in defining terrorist groups, as they framed numerous university students and groups as dangerous terrorist threats while labelling the Taliban as ‘moderate students’.
The meme went viral just days after the arrest of four HKU students on a charge of ‘advocating terrorism’ after they passed a motion in the University Student Union on July 7 mourning a man who stabbed himself to death after attacking a police officer with a knife on July 1, 2021 — the 24th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China. Through the motion, the student organisation expressed ‘deep sadness’ at the death of the 50-year-old Leung Kin fai and expressed appreciation for his ‘sacrifice’ to Hong Kong.
Soon after the assault had taken place, the Police Force labelled the July 1 police stabbing as an incident of ‘lone-wolf terrorism’ and said mourning the attacker’s death will glorify the act and can be viewed as ‘inciting a terrorist act’.
The students involved in the motion withdrew their statement, made a public apology and resigned from their positions in the student organizations on July 8 after Arthur Li, the University’s governing council chair, said that he would welcome a national security probe into the campus.
The public apology, however, did not stop the police from pursuing the case. On July 16, the national security police searched the Student Union office. One month later, on August 18, four students were arrested.
The four arrestees were the HKU Student Union executive committee and Union Council members: Kinson Cheung King-sang, 19,  Anthony Yung Chung-hei, 19, Charles Kwok Wing-ho, 20, and Chris Shing-hang Todorovski, 18. They were brought to the court on August 19 under the charge of ‘advocating terrorism’ and faced an alternate charge of inciting others to wound officers. All remained in police custody as three had their bail denied and one pending bail review. The case was adjourned until September 14.
In the meme, a photo of the student group apologising for their actions was contrasted with a photo of Wang Yi taken on July 28 during a meeting with a group of Afghan Taliban leaders in Tianjin.
Below is one version of the meme which went viral on Twitter:
#澳喜要闻
港大學生會為刺警案死者默哀是宣揚恐怖主義，王毅和塔利班恐怖分子合作，又是什麼？@YingJie22739040 pic.twitter.com/bruCQ1R5wb
— 澳喜要闻 (@ahnewsfeed) August 18, 2021
#ahnewsfeed HKU students mourned for the dead police assaulter is advocating terrorism, what about Wang Yi’s urging to cooperate with the Taliban, a well-known terrorist group?
Another version of the meme, posted on a Facebook page ‘I oppose police violence’, presented a summary of the Chinese Communist Party’s response to the Taliban's taking over of Kabul and posed the following question to Senior Superintendent Steve Li Kwai-wah of the National Security Department of the Police Force:
中共高度表揚塔利班，美化它為溫和組織，這算不算宣揚恐怖主義活動？
The CCP highly praised the Taliban and glorified it as a moderate organization, do you consider that as advocating terrorism?
On August 15, Li Shaoxian, Director of China-Arab Research Institute of Ningxia University said in an interview with The China Central Television:
今天的塔利班讓人感覺到刮目相看，它一路攻城略地，攻下的城市，它發布安民告示……員工甚麼的照常工作，並沒有進行干擾
It seems that the Taliban has given people a new impression. Soon after it besieged one city, it released information to comfort people… people carried on their work as usual, they did not intervene.
On August 16, Hua Chunying, spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry described the current situation in Afghanistan as ‘the will and choice of the Afghan people’ and welcomed the Taliban’s invitation for China’s participation in the country’s future reconstruction project. On the same day, the Chinese state media outlet People’s Daily introduced the Islamic militant group to Chinese netizens on Weibo as ‘students’. It said the Taliban was a student group based in refugee camps and it expanded dramatically because it received the support of the poor.
The brief introduction was deleted, reportedly after a flood of comments questioning the omission of the Taliban’s terrorist background.
Similar commentary was published by another state-funded media outlet Global Times on its WeChat channel to prove that the Taliban had become more moderate.
The meme posted on the Facebook page, ‘I oppose police violence’, has been shared 330 times. Some have left sarcastic comments such as:
港共係咪要請塔利班做顧問呀？
Will the Hong Kong CCP hire the Taliban as an advisor?
現在文字比真槍實彈更危險，讀過書識寫字都系恐怖分子
Today words are more dangerous than bullets. Those who can read and write are terrorists.
大媽稱，尊重阿富汗人民的意願私選擇，為甚麽不尊重HK人的意願和選擇？
The auntie [referring to Hua Chunying] said, ‘respect the will and choice of Afghanistan people’, why don’t they respect the will and choice of Hong Kong people?
以後香港學生要以塔利班為榜樣
In the future, Hong Kong students should learn from the Taliban then
The memes have also spread among overseas Hong Kong activists, including exiled activist Nathan Law, who took to Twitter last week to show the hypocrisy and China’s double-standard on terrorism:
The hypocrisy of #CCP:
1) #Taliban are friends but university students are terrorists.
2) it took 24 hours to arrest and send these students to court, but 47 pro-democracy politicians and activists, arrested in Feb 2021, still haven’t been on trial. #Beijing #HKU #hk #hongkong pic.twitter.com/lAowaWYCy0
— NL.SC (@NL_SC_HKG) August 19, 2021
#CCP dares to vindicate Taliban is just a student group which weaponize itself in order to make Afghans’ lives better. But, CCP instructs #HongKong govt to treat its students relentlessly. These students did nothing wrong but mourned a victim of an inhumane govt. It's ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/qSsEfBxL8s
— Bernard To (@BernardToHK) August 18, 2021
HK police arrested HKU students for “justifying terrorism” as they mourned a person's death while China allies with the Taliban
Ironic times ain't it
— Meme With Hong Kong (@memew_hongkong) August 18, 2021

author: Oiwan Lam


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Woman breaks record for lying down at resting contest in Montenegro · Global Voices
Metamorphosis Foundation

Dubravka “Duda” Aksić participating in the Lying Down Contest 2021. Screencap from Facebook video, courtesy of PBS Radio Television Montenegro (RTCG).
This story was originally published by Meta.mk. An edited version is republished here under a content-sharing agreement between Global Voices and Metamorphosis Foundation.
Brezna Ethno Village Montenegro, a hospitality complex located at the village of Donja Brezna in Montenegro, organized the traditional lying down contest during the last week of August 2021. For the tenth time, the competition poked fun at the widespread stereotype that Montenegrins are lazy. Contestants were supposed to lie down on the ground for hours, which turned into days.
Montenegro’s public broadcasting service (RTCG) reported that, even though the world record was broken on August 24, the three remaining contestants continued to compete, i.e. they continued lying flat in order to win an award of 300 euros (around 353 US dollars).
The breaking of the record probably came as a direct result of a change in the rules from previous years—allowing contestants to go to the toilet.
“They are allowed to go to the toilet after 8 hours, so maybe it was easier to break the record set two years ago, which was 52 hours continuous lying down. They weren’t allowed to go to the toilet. I couldn’t have managed that, so all credits go to them,” said Blagojević.
Photo by Ethno Village Montenegro Facebook page. The  embedded text reads: “The winner is Duda Aksić with 117 hours. Nikola Bosković gentlemanly got up only 5 minutes before, and Marko Vučković lasted 115. They are all moral winners. Congratulations for Duda! Lying Down Contest at Ethno Village Montenegro. New record – 117 hrs or 5 days.”
Two young men from Nikšić and a woman from Podgorica were vying for the new record. On August 25, the winner of the contest emerged, a lady from the capital, Dubravka “Duda” Aksić.
Aksić managed to lie down for 117 hours. The other finalist  Nikola Bošković got up five  minutes before her, while the third finalist Marko Vučković gave up two hours before them, Vesti newspaper reported.
The winner stated for Vijesti:
Zaista je bilo teško, posebno od tri sata noćas kada je počela jaka kiša. Bilo je hladno, mada smo se pokrili dodatnim ćebadima i prostirkama. Inače nam je bilo dosadilo i postalo nam je bilo naporno da ležimo, ali prizivali smo kišu da ona presudi, kao što se i desilo. Da nije bilo kiše sigurno bismo još ostali.
It was really hard, especially at 3 am last night when a heavy rain started. It was cold, even though we used  additional blankets. Otherwise it become too boring to continue, and our  bodies began to ache from lying down, so we attempted to invoke rain so it would be the judge, and so it came to pass. If  it wasn't for the rain, we would have remained some more time.
Before the end of the contest, the organizers upgraded the top prize to 350 euros (around 412 dollars).
Duda Aksić stated for Vijesti that she intends to spend the money to party with friends and to buy something to keep as memento of the contest, which  showed her that it's not easy to lie down all the time.
Stereotypes about Montenegrins being lazy are part of the common urban folklore in the countries that comprised Yugoslavia, which also contains jokes based on stereotypes about ethnic communities or inhabitants of particular regions as cunning, base, stingy, boastful, hedonistic, etc.
One instance of that kind of humor are the decades-old Ten Montenegrin Commandments (Deset crnogorskih  zapovjedi) which use the format of the Biblical Ten Commandments. Their author is anonymous.
A widely spread meme with the Ten Montenegrin Commandments.
Montengrins are also famous for being valiant and chivalrous, and they have owned this kind of jokes, using them as graphics on souvenirs (mugs, t-shirts, posters) as well as internet memes.
One of the many favorite jokes told by Montengrins also concerns the difficult work of lying down:
Snimao Spillberg film u Crnoj Gori, pa su mu trebali neki statisti. I tako uzme on dvojicu Crnogoraca, i objasni im da im je jedini zadatak da leže ispod jednog drveta.
I tako Crnogorci radili dva dana, kad im trećeg Spillberg reče da bi se zbog nove scene morali premjestiti pod drugo drvo.
Nato će mu stariji Crnogorac: ‘Ej Spilberže, Spilberže mi smo statisti i glumci, al’ bogumi kaskaderi nijesmo!’
American film director Steven Spielberg was shooting a movie in Montengro and invited locals as extras. He  hired two Montengrins and explained to them that their task is to lie under a tree.
So the two Montenegrins worked for two days. On the third day Spielberg told them that for the new scene  they have to move under another tree.
The older Montengrin responded: “Alas Mr. Spielberg, we are indeed extras and actors, but we are not stuntmen!”

author: Metamorphosis Foundation


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Facebook user gets 18-month prison sentence for mocking Cambodia’s prime minister · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Ny Nak wrote on Facebook that he will declare a “state of emergency” in his chicken coop. Source: Facebook
Cambodian citizen Ny Nak was sentenced to 18 months in prison for creating a Facebook post criticizing Prime Minister Hun Sen.
On December 7, 2020, Nak posted that he intended to declare a “state of emergency” in his chicken coop — appearing to mimic a speech Hun Sen made the same day. He was arrested by the police on December 12 and charged with “insult” and “incitement.” He was denied bail in January and convicted on August 19.
Ny Nak is an agricultural entrepreneur who often posted critical comments on the government’s policies on his popular personal Facebook page.
While Ny Nak’s post was intended to be funny, it sparked widespread controversy. Here’s an excerpt of what he said:
I have already prepared or drafted a letter and documents to request that my chickens be placed in a state of emergency due to the fact that the bird flu virus is spreading on the farm. I do not want to think about this because it is seriously damaging the economy of the chickens. I hope that all the chickens will be able to wear masks and sleep in cages. Do not go out unless necessary.
Authorities who saw the post insisted that it violated the law because it was ‘defaming’ Hun Sen, who delivered a speech about the impact of placing the country under a state of emergency because of the surging COVID-19 cases at that time.
Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon said the post could have caused panic because it mentioned  the bird flu:
By mentioning the bird flu, it could affect our people’s incomes as they may be paranoid to a point of stopping the rearing [of chickens] amid our efforts of a gradual economic recovery.
Justice Ministry spokesperson Chin Malin disagreed with some reporters who think that the Facebook post is simply being satirical:
This is your outsider judgement. Authorities and the prosecutors have grounds to specify that this is a crime and this is not an expression of a viewpoint. It is based on the ill-intention of the perpetrator in the past and recent actions that led to the charge.
After Ny Nak’s arrest, political analyst Lao Mong Hay said that it reflected the precarious state of the country's democracy:
In a liberal and multi-party democracy that guarantees human rights and respects the law, Ny Nak’s act would not be regarded as a criminal offence. The Cambodian Criminal Code also does not consider this comedy to be a criminal offence.
Chak Sopheap, executive director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, warned that the arrest would have a chilling effect on society
This has a detrimental impact on Cambodian society, as it deters individuals from public participation and fosters a culture of fear and self-censorship. Ultimately self-censorship in Cambodia results in the public being excluded from vital dialogues about the governance of the country, and extinguishes an important safeguard for government accountability.
[Arresting people] “serves nothing more than increasing fear among the people to share information or participate by expressing their views” @sopheapfocus said. https://t.co/ienzecqdMp
— CCHR Cambodia (@cchrcambodia) December 15, 2020
Similarly, Am Sam Ath, deputy director at human rights group Licadho, expressed concern over Ny Nak’s conviction:
This verdict yesterday is a message that makes those who have constructive ideas or criticisms in relation to social issues be fearful and hesitant and will limit their freedom of expression…For a democratic country, if it is missing the sharing of ideas in a constructive way, it will not be able to progress quickly.
Ny Nak’s case is an example of what media and human rights groups have called an intensifying suppression of dissent in the country and the use of emergency laws to silence critics.

author: Mong Palatino


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Ken Behrens-Canberrans caption error creates Australia’s accidental COVID-19 hero · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Ken Behrens-Canberrans caption error Image  Mockup: a screenshot from a 9 News Australia YouTube video ’ACT records two new local COVID-19 cases overnight’ 13 Aug 2021 + text
Every pandemic should have at least one accidental hero. In Australia’s case, the honor has been awarded because of a transcription mistake. When the Australian Capital Territory’s chief minister Andrew Barr thanked the people of the capital city Canberra on August 13, 2021, for their commitment to stay home during the COVID-19 lockdown, he could not have anticipated the consequences.
Mitch Bowey was tasked with captioning the footage from the media conference. He used a voice-to-text Artificial Intelligence (AI) software to transcribe the word “Canberrans.” The AI suggested a bizarre rendition, namely “Ken Behrens.”
Mitch admitted that he missed the error:
#KenBehrens, a hero for our times. https://t.co/rYW0722EqM
— Margaret Morgan ✒? ? (@Monocotyledon) August 20, 2021
The hunt for the source was soon underway. Canberra Times journalist Andrew Brown tweeted:
Are you the real Ken Behrens? Do you live in Canberra? Are you the real hero that the Chief is praising at the presser? If so, my DMs are open pic.twitter.com/VXoySHsIEi
— Andrew Brown (@AndrewBrownAU) August 14, 2021
Once social media users noticed the mistake, it became a viral meme — one that quickly took on a life of its own. Some even joke that it may end up as an Australianism entry in the Australian National Dictionary, alongside classics like, “doing a Bradbury.”
The gaffe has generated lots of online merchandise, including T-shirts, coffee mugs and cushion covers heralding “We are all Ken Behrens.”
We are all #KenBehrens ?? pic.twitter.com/cHMOkq5hj5
— Leese Wills (@leesebkk) August 23, 2021
It arrived! @RealKenBehrens #KenBehrens @z_rose pic.twitter.com/jtTSyIjCWI
— Prof Linda Botterill ?? (@lindacbotterill) August 25, 2021
Local Canberra media also joined in on the fun:
A new edition of #KenBehrens Weekly available today, online & in limited stands across the ACT. Get your free copy! pic.twitter.com/vfocf0soNQ
— Canberra Weekly (@canberrawkly) August 18, 2021
So where did this odd predictive text come from? It turns out that there is a flesh and blood Ken Behrens. Originally from the United States, he now lives in Madagascar where he is a wildlife photographer. Pre-COVID Ken worked as a natural history tour guide and wrote a number of natural history books. He was interviewed by Her Canberra's Ginger Gorman after she “found him”:
In response to Chief Minister Andrew Barr’s kind words, I’d like to say “You’re welcome” ;p. Though please don’t tell him that I’m not actually at home right now!
Ken became a co-host of the podcast “Naturally Adventurous” in July 2020. Though he is pretty well-traveled, he hasn't yet made it down to Australia.
Ken is thrilled by his honorary citizenship in Canberra and has discussed the mix-up on his social media accounts. He also shared information about a free Donut Day creation that had been made in honor of “Ken Behren.”
A post shared by Weekly Donut Box (@weeklydonutbox)
Donut day down under often indicates zero COVID cases — an obvious cause for celebration during a lockdown. A truly worthy prize for Australia's new favorite hero.

author: Kevin Rennie


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Little chance of justice for Colombia’s murdered journalists · Global Voices
J. Fernanda Sánchez Jaramillo

Illustration: Giovana Fleck/Global Voices
Nearly 80 percent of killings of Colombian journalists go unpunished, according to Ángela Caro, a lawyer of the Colombian organization Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP, for its acronym in Spanish). This is not a surprise in a country with a long history of violence against journalists.
FLIP registered 161 murders of journalists from 1977 to 2000. Only one case resulted in convictions of everyone involved in the crime. In just four cases, the mastermind was sentenced, and in 29, the perpetrator of the crimes. Unfortunately, 127 are in total impunity and 92 have been archived by Colombia's prosecutor offices.
These 161 journalists killed were victims of paramilitary groups, criminal groups, drug dealers, members of the public security and state forces, and guerrillas such as the FARC, ELN, and EPL. Sixty-one of these communicators worked for print media, 64 for radio stations, and 16 for television.
Screenshot of information obtained by FLIP
Relatives of victims found justice on only a few occasions. The case of Orlando Sierra, a writer at La Patria regional newspaper based in Manizales who was killed in 2002, is one of those cases. It took 17 years to convict the mastermind of this crime, Ferney Tapasco. This is the only case in which the whole criminal chain — the hitman, two collaborators, and the intellectual author — was convicted.
However, the judicial decision left his colleagues with a sour taste. Fernando Ramírez told Global Voices:
This case was resolved with the same evidence that they had at least 10 years before. If justice is a form of dissuasion to prevent people from committing crimes, impunity in Colombia is almost an incentive, because it is really difficult that someone is convicted even though they are guilty.
When a judge declares the murder of a journalist as a crime against humanity, which means that it cannot be time-barred, the case is taken on with renewed vigor. One such case was the 1986 killing of Guillermo Cano, editor at the Colombian newspaper El Espectador who had denounced the role of drug traffickers in politics. However, Caro from FLIP told Global Voices:
There are no efforts from the nation's Public Prosecutor Office to get results. Guillermo Cano's case was declared a crime against humanity in 2010, but there is still impunity.
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Colombia ranks 134 in the list of worst countries for journalists. The best for press freedom are Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Costa Rica.
Impunity for crimes against journalists is not an exclusive problem to Colombia. Brazil, Honduras, and Ecuador also have high rates of impunity. Barely one in 10 murders of journalists are prosecuted in Latin America, explains Ernst Sagaga, Head of Human Rights and Safety at the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), in an interview with Global Voices.
From 2011 to 2020, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, and Honduras were some of the most dangerous countries for journalists, states RSF. Most of the journalists killed lived far away from big cities, worked in precarious conditions often for various media outlets, and reported about their communities and state agents.
During the 1980s, violence against journalists was rampant. The crisis of security was such that IFJ opened a solidarity center in Bogotá to offer security for journalists while lobbying for their protection with national authorities.
Sagaga added:
Indeed, [the government of] Colombia adopted a protection program for journalists under threat, which is still running today. But the program has a mixed record, especially after journalists lost trust in it because of strong evidence of collusion between security forces running the program and those targeting journalists.
Despite the fact the cruelest years passed for Colombia, danger did not disappear and journalists still need protection.
According to information from the Public Prosecutor's Office obtained through a records request, the agency counted 346 crimes committed from 1980 to 2020, whereby journalists were victims of homicide, femicide, homicide of protected persons (referring to homicides of people under government protection), and forced disappearance.
Screenshot of information obtained through a public records request
International organizations suggest strategies to curb violence against journalists in Colombia. Sagaga says:
Authorities must publicly denounce violence on journalists, investigate, and prosecute them in a credible manner to punish those responsible and deter future similar crimes.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) believes that Colombia should focus on staffing local investigation offices and promoting transparency. Natalie Southwick, Program Coordinator Central and South America & the Caribbean at CPJ, told Global Voices:
While Colombia's (admittedly far from perfect) protection mechanism has been a model for other countries across the region, Colombia lags behind other countries like Mexico or Guatemala that have created national- or state-level prosecutor's offices that specialize in investigating cases of violence against journalists and press freedom violations. These offices are not a solution to impunity on their own but allocating staff and resources specifically to address these crimes allows for more opportunity to investigate such cases and identify the perpetrators and sends a clear public message that the state is prioritizing these cases, which in itself can help discourage more violence against the press. Greater transparency in official processes and regular public updates on the investigations into these cases would also help encourage greater accountability from the state institutions responsible for these investigations.

author: J. Fernanda Sánchez Jaramillo


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Employees of Hungarian-owned TV in North Macedonia conduct partial strike over unpaid salaries · Global Voices
Guest Contributor

News anchor Ana Todevska welcomed the viewers to “the first live edition of TV Alfa news” after the strike on Friday, August 20, 2021. Photo by Global Voices, CC-BY.
This story by D. Mishev was originally published by CIVIL Today, an English edition of the media platform CIVIL Media. An edited version of the translation by Natаša Cvetkovska is republished here with permission of CIVIL – Center for Freedom.
For four days, from August 16 to August 19, the employees of TV Alfa, a private television station with national broadcasting  concession in North Macedonia, conducted a partial strike by reducing the format of newscasts – they were conducted without live stream from the studio and using only archive footage.
This move came after the the employees sent a letter to the management and the shareholders of TV Alfa on August 11, demanding payment of their salaries and other expenses. The letter contained a warning that the cameramen would stop going on the ground from August 16, and that the information content would be reduced to ten minutes.
Since that day, each TV Alfa news cast begun with a black screen showing the following announcement:
The black screen with the information about the partial strike shown before Alfa TV newscasts. Screen capture by CIVIL, used with permission.
Dear viewers of TV Alfa,
Due to the situation of our and yours TV station Alfa, we are forced to reduce the news to ten minutes, without video and audio material, and the same also refers to other information programs. Such format will continue until the situation has been overcome.
We thank you for your understanding.
The reason for this, as was said in the warning letter, signed by the “Employees in TV Alfa”, is the delay of two salaries, health insurance and fees for three months, which “causes revolt among the employees”.
Leaked letter by employees of TV Alfa addressed to manager Jani Bojadzi, demanding payment of salaries and warning about upcoming strike. Photo by CIVIL Media, used with permission. Click on image for larger version.
According to the leaked letter obtained by CIVIL Media, at the August 11 meeting, which had been attended by most of the employees, a decision had been made for “taking the first steps to protect their elementary rights.”
The employees held the emergency meeting a day after the deadline set by the Alfa TV manager for payment of “three monthly salaries, two honoraria and related health insurance benefits,” because that promise remained unfulfilled.
CIVIL Media tried to contact TV Alfa management, in order to obtain information about the newly-created situation, but nobody answered the telephone number posted on their Facebook page.
The strike seem to have ended by Friday, February 20, when at the 9:30 am morning news cast, the anchor Ana Todevska welcomed the viewers stressing that they are watching “the first live edition of TV Alfa news.” No further official explanation was given in regard to the situation and return to the usual format of the program coverage.
The recordings of the news items from the strike period, containing the black screen with employees’ warning message, have been removed from the Alfa TV news YouTube channel.
In February 2021, TV Alfa was part of a scandal related to the misuse of taxpayer money from the state fund for mitigation of the economic effects of COVID-19 pandemic, providing subsidies to companies to supplement salaries of their workers.
On February 8, CIVIL Media reported that documents made public under government policies for increased transparency indicated that TV Alfa was among the companies that received state assistance, but did not pay salaries to their employees.
According to the list published on the website of the government, Alfa TV received state support of 22,328 US dollars (1,175,820 Macedonian denars) for the month of December 2020 to supplement the salaries for 102 employees. However government audit found out that the money were not paid to the workers by that time.
In addition, it emerged that the company-owner of TV Alfa was accused of tax evasion, as Prizma , a Macedonian language website run by the Balkan Investigative Network (BIRN) reported at the end of march this year.
Previously, in 2018 much was written also about Oliveri oil company and the multi-million scheme, for financing black propaganda aimed against the Macedonian European integration.
At the time, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) reported that “Hungarians with links to the country’s pro-government media have embarked on a mass buy-up of news outlets in Macedonia, part of what appears to be a concerted push into the Balkans by media companies loyal to right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.”
Another country targeted with Hungarian media investment surge besides North Macedonia is Slovenia, where it aided the efforts of right-wing government led by Orban's ally Janez Jansha to undermine free media.
Two years later, in early 2020, both BIRN and OCCRP published accounts of independent journalist investigations showing that a little known Hungarian company supposedly selling olive oil and trinkets like refrigerator magnets  “pumped over 3.2 million euros into his North Macedonian media network under the guise of questionable advertising purchases.”
CIVIL media monitoring, as well as the European Parliament report Mapping Fake News an Disinformation in the Western Balkans and Identifying Ways to Effectively Counter Them, have noted that TV Alfa often publishes politically biased disinformation. This includes slander and insults against organizations for human rights and freedoms, and against journalists, including numerous attacks against CIVIL and its individual members.
Despite this, CIVIL expressed solidarity with the demands for respecting the worker’s rights of media workers in TV Alfa.
As noted in the study on COVID-19 related disinformation in North Macedonia by Metamorphosis Foundation, in 2020 TV Alfa content was used to disseminate confusing and unfounded claims about the pandemic across the Balkans, as reported by Serbian fact-checking  service Istinomer. Тhe Critical Thinking for Mediawise Citizens – Crithink project reported that Alfa TV promoted distrust of government anti-pandemic measures including the contract tracing mobile application StopKorona! through a late night talk show. Al Jazeera reported that that campaign was run in collusion with a troll army linked to right wing political parties.
During the period of state capture 2010-2017, the right wing regime run by the political party VMRO-DPMNE led by then-Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski was especially generous towards TV Alfa. The government siphoned over 26 million euros taxpayers money into private media during that period , with 95 percent of this amount ending up on the accounts of three TV stations with national broadcasting concessions: Sitel, Kanal 5 and TV Alfa.
Gruevski was later convicted of corruption  and fled to Hungary, under protection of Orban, where he  received political asylum. He had taken an undisclosed amount of money from the country and has recently registered a company there.

author: Guest Contributor


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As Ebrahim Raisi begins his presidential role, oppression is set to soar in Iran · Global Voices
Guest Contributor

Ebrahim Raisi cast his ballot in the presidential election at the Ershad Mosque on June 18, 2021. Photo by Maryam Kamyab (CC BY 4.0)
By Naveed Sadeghi
The Islamic Republic of Iran inaugurated its eighth president on August 5.
Ebrahim Raisi, the former Chief Justice and head of the regime's judiciary apparatus, won the presidential election on June 19 in a landslide victory.
Many observers both in Iran and internationally were hardly surprised at Raisi’s victory. Leading up to the vote, the regime took all the steps it could to ensure the Chief Justice would win at the polls. Just weeks before the election, Iran’s Guardian Council, a regulatory body controlled by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, swiftly and unilaterally disqualified the vast majority of Raisi’s opposition from the ballot, including many popular reformist candidates who had been gaining public support in the months prior.
Raisi was not so much elected as he was installed. His credentials as the quintessential regime insider made him the ideal candidate as far as the Ayatollahs were concerned. Indeed, there is probably no man alive today who has contributed more to the Iranian government machine than Ebrahim Raisi. Raisi’s career began at the tender age of 20 when he began to work in the fledgling government’s court system, an organization he would one day head. After participating in the 1979 coup that removed the Shah from power, Raisi was reportedly scouted by close aides of the Revolution’s founder Ruhollah Khomeini. He was quickly appointed to prestigious prosecutorial positions at the municipal and later regional levels. By his late twenties, Raisi was already the assistant prosecutor for the nation’s capital of Tehran.
Those early years set the precedent for Raisi’s long history of using the armed state to clamp down on the Iranian people. Raisi personally oversaw countless cases involving political dissidents and anti-regime activists, handing out harsh sentences including execution orders. Several eye-witness accounts attest to how Raisi was himself present at the torture and maiming of political prisoners his judiciary had incarcerated, many of whom were women and children. His experience as a prosecutor culminated in his most infamous crime, his participation in the 1988 Massacre in which thousands of prisoners from anti-regime groups were executed in secret over a period of several weeks. According to human rights groups that investigated the incident, Raisi, at the time 28 years old, was part of the four-man panel that issued each and every death sentence. According to Iranian government defectors, the Massacre resulted in as many as 30,000 deaths, with thousands more suffering torture and other forms of violence that left many permanently disabled.
With this demonstrated record, it is clear why the Ayatollahs chose Raisi to head the Iranian government. Simply put, Raisi has become an expert at using the power of the state to quell dissent and crack down on anti-regime activity. As laid out by the People's Mujahedin Organization (PMO), the Paris-based Iranian opposition group, Ebrahim Raisi has been directly involved in every event of state repression in Iran for the past three decades.
Ebrahim Raisi cast his ballot in the presidential election at the Ershad Mosque on June 18, 2021. Photo by Maryam Kamyab (CC BY 4.0)
In the recent period alone, as nationwide protest movements have picked up traction among the Iranian public, Raisi has been at the head of the judiciary and security-force collusion to brutally put down anti-regime activity. Raisi was behind the Kahrizak Torture scandal in 2009 in which activists involved in countrywide demonstrations against alleged election corruption were jailed and tortured in the Kahrizak Detention Center in northern Iran. It took until 2016 for the regime to formally recognize the incident.
As the Judiciary Chief, a position he held until being elected president, Raisi personally oversaw hundreds of executions, including of 251 people in 2019, and 267 people in 2020, and scores of executions over the past year. As Amnesty International reported, under Raisi, “the death penalty was increasingly used as a weapon of political repression against dissident protesters and members of ethnic minority groups.” One particular case that drew international outcry was the brutal execution of Iranian sportsman and wrestler Navid Afkari, who was convicted of “war against the regime” for his involvement in anti-government protests.
In 2019, when Iran saw its largest wave of unrest since the Revolution, Raisi was at the forefront ensuring violent repression of activist groups. He worked with police and paramilitary units, offering them carte blanche to use whatever means necessary to put down demonstrations and deter more activism. Under Raisi’s directive, thousands of men, women, and children were arrested in mass round-ups, and many were subjected to torture, enforced disappearance and other harassing and violent treatment.
The clear signal being sent by Raisi’s “election” is the regime’s intent on even ramping up its repressive tactics. As the PMO wrote in a recent publication, the regime must keep up the oppression since it knows “no other way of holding back dissent.” The Ayatollah’s constant fear of another uprising makes state violence and brutality absolutely necessary.
The regime has made its position clear. And with the ascent of Ebrahim Raisi, the ferocity of regime repression will only get worse.
Naveed Sadeghi is a London-based human rights freelance journalist specializing in Iranian affairs.