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Armenia: International Women’s Day · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Marking International Women's Day, Ianyan features guest posts on gender in Armenia. In the first, three writers take a glimpse into the lives of women in the post-Soviet country, while a second examines the issues of patriarchy and discrimination. The third post takes the form of an interview with a prominent feminist author and LGBT activist.


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Barbados: Media Ownership  · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

Veteran Caribbean journalist Julius Gittens touches on issues of media ownership and calls for reflections on the adequacy of the existing structures and for ideas to spawn new ones…he is also sceptical of the notion that technology has reduced the need for conventional journalism: “Already in the Caribbean…so-called social media have made traditional media obsolete…the citizen as personal curator has no further need for curated information provided by the journalist.”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Matthew Hunte


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Bhutan: The Indian Currency Crunch · Global Voices
Rezwan

The Indian rupee is accepted as a legal currency in Bhutan along with the ngultrum. Penstar reports that a crisis is brewing in the country as all the banks were ordered to close the accounts held by non-resident Indians to tackle the Indian currency crunch.

author: Rezwan


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Brazil: Bloggers Sued for Denouncing Corruption in Alagoas · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Mário Júnior and Alexandre Fleming, on Blog do Fleming, denounced [pt] in July 2011 that the Secretary of Budget and Planning and Economic Development, Energy and Logistics, Luiz Otavio Gomes Silva, from the Brazilian state of Alagoas, was benefiting “individual customers with government incentives.” Now, in 2012, bloggers were sued [pt] for denouncing corruption.

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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Brazil: Citizens Say No to Aquarium in Fortaleza · Global Voices
João Miguel Lima

Citizens of Fortaleza are urging the governor of the Brazilian state of Ceará, Cid Gomes, to halt an Aquarium project which has had no public bidding. Critics argue it will rise land prices and force families to leave. Mobilization took to the streets on carnival, spread on Twitter with #AcquarioNao (No Acquario), and a demonstration on March 10 gathered residents and artists on site.

author: João Miguel Lima


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Colombia: FARC Announces End to Kidnappings, Release of Hostages · Global Voices
Lully

The FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), the largest and oldest guerilla group in Colombia, recently announced on February 26 [es], 2012, that they would release ten military hostages currently being held captive. The group had suspended a previously scheduled release of 6 hostages last year after denouncing ongoing military operations.
Through this announcement the FARC reported that they would renounce kidnapping as a financing means and emphasized their desire to stop the war which has been ongoing for 48 years. This news naturally has set off reactions among several citizen mediums, national and international.
And despite it only being several weeks since their announced desire to end the war, the FARC continues making news for its violence [es], having an armed protest strike in the department of Choco, where serious problems [es] springing from the conflict have been expressed on Twitter with the hashtag #EL_CHOCÓ_NECESITA_PAZ (Choco needs peace) [es]. In addition there continue to be reported various confrontations with the armed forces in Cauca and other regions of Colombia.
March against FARC, February 4, 2008. Photo by Juan David Medina (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
In the meantime, preparations for the upcoming liberation of the ten hostages have been announced.
The website Colombia Soy Yo (I am Colombia), founded in 2008 by a group of civilians whose mission is “Constructing a Colombia without armed outlaw groups, pushing responsible, collective action based on human development,” have promoted campaigns like “Today is Your Day: Second Message Marathon for Reconciliation and Freedom,”  [es] mentioning the FARC communication and repeat their petition [es] for the liberation of six hostages.
They conclude with this emphatic statement:
Junto a las Voces del Secuestro y otras organizaciones aliadas, seguiremos insistiendo y estamos dispuestos incluso, a ir hasta lo más profundo de la selva, para traerlos de regreso con sus familias
In the blog Atrabilioso [es], the columnist Jorge Monroy believes that past kidnappings are still crimes that should be judged:
¿es posible creerles a las FARC? No importa, lo único que hay que hacer es aplicar las leyes y llevarlos ante la justicia
At the website Silla Vacía (Empty Chair), Juanita León and Dora Carvajal make an analysis [es] of the current state of the FARC and conclude with a discouraging vision for peace in Colombia:
En este complejo escenario del conflicto, se abre con el anuncio de las Farc de proscribir el secuestro una pequeña ventana para ir aminorando el sufrimiento de los civiles víctimas de esta guerra. Pero el fin de la guerra aún está lejos.
On the blog Quartely Américas, Jenny Manrique opens with the question “Will all hostages go free?” and ends her post saying [es]:
Mucho se ha hablado acerca de las retenciones de personas, hombres o mujeres de la población civil, que con fines financieros efectuamos las FARC a objeto de sostener nuestra lucha. Con la misma voluntad indicada arriba es un buen momento para mirar la complejidad del secuestro y a las víctimas en su totalidad. Un país que jerarquiza a sus víctimas, también se acostumbra a olvidarlas.
The historian Medófilo Medina (founding member of the blog Razón Pública [es]) made a video analysis on YouTube and indicates this is a opportune moment for the government to make a lasting peace:
On Twitter, some like Cavib77 (@cavib77) [es] and Diana Urrutia H (@DiiuUrrutia) [es] are taking the news with hope for the future:
De corazón espero q las FARC cumplan su anuncio de no más SECUESTROS y se de la pronta liberación de todos los secuestrados militares o civiles.
Buenos días, leyendo el anuncio de las Farc, se incrementa mi esperanza en el fin de la violencia que ha golpeado tanto a Colombia
Meanwhile others are incredulous and critical of  the FARC's announcement, such as Andrés Gutiérrez (@andresmgs) [es] and Charles Figueroa (@CharlesFiguero) [es]:
Las FARC dicen que “no habrá mas secuestros” y como muestra de sus intenciones de paz bombardean Cauca, peor aun hay payasos que les creen!!
¿Qué estará tramando las FARC con su sorpresivo anuncio de paz y reconciliación?
Sergio Rodríguez V. (@Sergi_Rodriguez) [es] started a call for the end, demanding commitment from the FARC:
Ya son 14 años secuestrado por las FARC… No mas secuestro… #LiberenlosYA
Juanito Alimaña (@CuadroAlfonso) [es] for her part criticized what happened in Choco and accused the FARC of holding hostage not persons but regions of the country:
Las FARC anunciaron que dejarán la práctica del secuestro de personas y dieron paso al secuestro de departamentos enteros.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (@JuanManSantos) [es], one of the first to spread the news, reacted to it on Twitter this way:
Valoramos el anuncio de las FARC de renunciar al secuestro como un paso importante y necesario pero no suficiente en la dirección correcta
Finally analysts on the blog Razón Pública provided a positive vision for peace [es]:
Tanto el gobierno como las FARC han dado pasos importantes. El reto es definir la hoja de ruta hacia la paz. Colombia puede inspirarse en sus procesos anteriores, en la experiencia de numerosos países y en el nuevo escenario mundial. La negociación entre gobierno e insurgencia será imprescindible, pero hay tareas básicas más allá de la mesa de los diálogos. De hecho el proceso de paz ya está en marcha

author: Lully


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Cuba: Dual Citizenship  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Lynden Pindling International Airport is the place of metamorphosis, the place to assert the dual nationality that is not recognized in their own country”: Generation Y blogs about an unlikely connection between Cuba and the Bahamas.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Cuba: Preparing for the Pope  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Havana Times says that “everything seems to be ready to welcome the Pope, who will visit Cuba from March 26 to 28″, while babalu cautions that “with the upcoming Papal visit to Cuba, it's important to remember who the real Catholics in Cuba are.”


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Egypt: Flip Flop Economics to Debate the Presidential Elections  · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

Egyptians go to the polls in May to election their new president, after 32 years of Hosni Mubarak's rule. Preparations for the big event are in full swing as potential candidates are filing their candidacy nominations, meeting voters in different governorates and mapping out their agendas to the media.
Khaled Aly is one of those potential candidates, and despite that fact that he isn't well-known among the majority of the Egyptians, he has the backing of many leftists and it is said that his strength in the elections will be the votes of the workers.
Egyptian blogger and economics expert, Mohamed El-Dahshan (@eldahshan), wrote a post [ar] welcoming Aly to the presidential elections race, but also decided to give him some advice and criticize his campaign so far in the process.
El-Dahshan writes [ar]:
El-Dahshan added that workers rights should not contradict with those of business owners, and that Aly's focus on those rights should not prevent him from finding ways to encourage the private sector to elect him as well. The post generated a debate on Twitter, where netizens argued for and against some of the points raised by the blogger.
Tamer Mowafy (@kalimakhus) replied to El-Dahshan telling him that there is contradiction between workers rights and business owners rights most of the time [ar]:
@kalimakhus: @eldahshan حقوق العمال لا تتعارض مع حقوق أصحاب العمل؟؟ .. شيل حقوق و حط مصالح تبقى عبارتك أكيد خاطئة تماما
Mowafy continues:
@kalimakhus: @eldahshan يعنى بدون أى تفاصيل معقدة كل حق من حقوق العمال هو إضافة لتكاليف الإنتاج يعنى إنخفاض للأرباح و إلا ماكانوش بيدوهالهم ليه يعنى؟
They then debated whether the increase of profit for a business means better salaries for workers, or whether more profit means lower salaries. El-Dahshan argues that if a company makes more money it will be able to pay more for its workers.
While Mowafy replied that higher productivity and profit come only from longer working hours which mean a lower value for the workers working time.
@kalimakhus: @eldahshan زيادة الإنتاج لو لم يكن نتيجة لتطوير الآلات أو تكنولوجيا الإنتاج يبقى نتيجة زيادة ساعات العمل أو تكثيف طاقة العمل
Libraliyya intervened saying not everything has to be a zero sum, and if one sides wins the other has to loose.
The three of them debated the meaning of exploitation, and when it's to be called exploitation, and when should we call it supply and demand. So, Mowafy tweeted an example to clarify his point of view.
@kalimakhus: @Libraliyya @eldahshan هو أنا لو بعت لك شبشب بألف جنيه لأن جزمتك إتسرقت من قدام الجامع مش أبقى إستغليتك رغم إنى مش انا اللى سرقتك؟
@Libraliyya: @kalimakhus @eldahshan حلو. خلينا في المثال دا. لو دا الشبشب الوحيد، يبقى مورد نادر و عليه طلب من الكثيرين. صحبه يديه لمين و على اي اساس؟
They continued to discuss on what criteria scarce resources should be sold to bigger demand without exploiting those who need it. And Mowafy disagreed that the one in need of something the most, is the one ready to pay more.
@kalimakhus: @Libraliyya @eldahshan ياخده الأكثر إحتياجا له وفق أى معيار موضوعى .. لو تساووا فى كل المعاير نعمل قرعة :P
@Libraliyya: @kalimakhus @eldahshan (١)ايه هوالمعيارالموضوعي دا؟(٢)ولوكل حاجة بقت قرعةهل دانظام نقدر نبني بيه مجتمع حتى لوقدراتك تسمحلك بالاحسن من الحظ؟
Like most of the debates between people of different ideologies on Twitter, they ended the debate after a while with a promise to have more debates in the future.
@Libraliyya: @kalimakhus @eldahshan عموما حوار رائع و مفيد بالرغم من الاعتماد على الشبشب. كفاية بقى لحسن الفولورز بتوعنا يدونا بالشبشب. :)
Libraliyya created a Storify for their debate here.

author: Tarek Amr


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France: Why Celebrated Film ‘The Artist’ Isn’t Such a Hit at Home · Global Voices
Anne Lozac'h

[All links forward to French articles unless stated otherwise.]
In February 2012, French and world cinema history was made after five Oscars were awarded to the film The Artist and its leading actor Jean Dujardin (Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Picture, Best Costume Design and Best Original Score).
It is the first time a non-Anglo-Saxon film has won Oscars for both Best Picture and Best Actor in a Leading Role. In France, however, the enthusiasm has not been so universal.
The launch of The Artist was in May 2011 during the 64th annual Cannes Film Festival. The film was very well received by both the jury and the public, with Jean Dujardin being given the Best Actor Award. And so began the film's winning international career; it has picked up more than 80 awards, including three Golden Globes, seven BAFTAs, six Césars, one Goya and five Oscars.
Photo from the official website of The Artist www.the-artist-lefilm.com
This Hollywood triumph has been greeted not only with great surprise in France, but also some confusion.
President Sarkozy, currently on his campaign for the 2012 presidential election, was one of the first politicians to congratulate the director on Twitter:
@NicolasSarkozy: Je présente mes félicitations à Michel Hazanavicius, Oscar du meilleur réalisateur pour The Artist, qui fait la fierté du cinéma français NS
Bernard Morlino considers Jean Dujardin to be cinema's Ballon d'Or 2012 ( editor's note: Ballon d'Or is the prize for the world's best football player of the year, a frequently used metaphor in France for an internationally recognized award) :
[…] The Artist est d’abord un film avant d’être la France. Cela dit, il en a fallu du temps pour que les Etats-Unis récompensent les Français qui ont inventé le cinéma par le biais des Frères Lumières, en 1895. Espérons que les récompensés gardent la tête froide et qu’ils restent humbles. The Artist permet que l’on parle en bien de la France, cela nous change du comportement dégradant des politichiens…[…]
[…] The Artist is a film first, and  a French film second. That being said, it has taken some time for France (home of the Lumière brothers, who invented cinema in 1895) to be rewarded by the United States. We hope that everyone can remain calm and humble in receiving these awards. The Artist allows France to be spoken about positively, which makes a welcome change from the subject of the degrading behaviour of our politicians…[…]
On the side of the film critics, arretsurimages comments in its press review that The Artist‘s success does not appear justified to all journalists, French and American alike. Some even think that it was “pure luck”:
«Je n'ai rien contre The Artist, qui est une charmante lettre d'amour au vieil Hollywood, réalisée avec habileté. Mais d'ici un an ou deux, on s'apercevra que c'était un pur coup de chance », écrivait lundi un journaliste du site culturel Salon. «Je suis sûr que la France est en pleine euphorie, mais tôt ou tard elle aura un moment de lucidité et se dira: de tous les films que nous avons faits depuis l'époque des Frères Lumière, c'est celui-ci qui a conquis Hollywood ?»”, ajoute Le Figaro.
“I don't have anything against The Artist, which plays like a charming love letter to old Hollywood and has been skilfully made. But a year or two from now we'll see that it was pure luck,” a journalist wrote for Salon, a cultural website. French newspaper Le Figaro adds, “I'm sure that the whole of France is overjoyed, but sooner or later there will be a moment of clarity and everyone will say, “Of all the films we've made since the Lumière brothers’ era, this is the one that conquered Hollywood?””
French people also know how to self-depracate. The photo from the film pictured above has been shared on French social networking sites, often accompanied by sarcastic comments:
Comme quoi, quand les Français ferment leur gueule, tout le monde les apprécie
On Twitter, the main criticism of the film is that its Frenchness is not apparent: a film that was not only shot in America about Hollywood, but that is also silent. Twitter users have a theory of seduction aimed at Americans:
@Lena: Sur 60 acteurs dans #TheArtist, 2 seulement sont Français , bravo le #cinéma français! http://bit.ly/Abikhd
@PK16:  The Artist film typiquement français …mdr faut arrêter c'est un film américain fait par un français rien d'autre !
@robocup555:  The Artist mérite bien ses 5 Oscars. Les français ont appris à faire d'excellents films américains. Celui là est le Top. Muet.Noir & blanc.
@Just a boy:  Tout le monde aime Jean Dujardin, tout le monde est fier des oscars et content pour le cinéma Francais, mais aucun de nous a vu The Artist.
Nevertheless, wangyoann is there to remind us that The Artist‘s success is great and worldwide: the film even made the headlines in China:
"Les Oscars! Enivrés! Succès complet pour "The Artist"" –  via 内蒙晨报 Neimeng chen bao

author: Anne Lozac'h


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Intercontinental Cry Will Launch Spanish Edition · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Ahni announces the upcoming Spanish edition of Intercontinental Cry [es], which will go live on March 31, 2012. “The main objective of IC Espanol is, of course, to provide Spanish readers with the same news that our English readers have come to expect from us; what I consider to be essential news on the global indigenous movement.” Find out about more languages on the IC Translation Project Facebook page.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Iran: ‘May God bring bread to empty tables’ · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

An Iranian blogger based in Tehran posted a Libyan cartoon on his official blog and briefly writes [fa]: ‘Coming new Iranian year, I wish God brings food to all the empty tables so no respectful father would be ashamed with his family’. The cartoon shows a father painting fruits on an empty table for his poor family.

author: Hadi Nili


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Iran: The 4th enemy of Internet · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

Reporters Without Borders considers Iran as the 4th ‘enemy of Internet’, after Burma, China and Cuba. The annual report of RSF on ‘World day against cyber-censorship’ says [en]: Iran has intensified online crackdowns and surveillance again this year. The regime has also continued to demonize the new media, accusing them of serving foreign interests. Several netizens have been sentenced to death.


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Iran: The sanctions are resulting in inflation · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

A Persian blog focused on economics writes [fa]: Inflation is Iran is a result of sanctions against the country and high liquidity. The unknown writer of this blog believes: The market can not be reined without tuning down the international tensions and reducing the liquidity.


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Iran: Wednesday Feast with crackers and fireworks · Global Voices
Hadi Nili

This evening Iranians are celebrating ChaharShanbeh-Suri (the Wednesday Feast) in Tehran and other cities, with fireworks and crackers which are called ‘pomegranates’ informally. The eve of last Tuesday of the Iranian year is marked by special customs and rituals, most notably jumping over fire. Some Iranian users are expressing their objection with this huge new fireworks. Sahar, based in Tehran, tweets [fa]: Now there is too much noise of these crackers and pomegranates that if a war takes place outside, I can not notice it. Spidermard, based in Tehran, tweets [fa]: Cheers for MirHossein Mousavi that may think there is a revolution out there. A user based in Tehran has posted the sound heard in his balcony.


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Korea: Criticisms Mount against China for Repatriating North Korean Defectors · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

The Marmot's hole blog displayed interesting discussion threads on Chinese repatriation of North Korean defectors. Several reports revealed last week Chinese government sent back 31 North Korean defectors to North Korea where even families who helped those to escape from the country are being arrested and interrogated.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Mozambique: The People’s Wall of Maputo · Global Voices
Joao Fernando Finazzi

At the same time that we increasingly see the advance of new technology which facilitates communication and information, such as smartphones, tablets, Twitter and Facebook, in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, the People's Wall has emerged: the extensive outer wall of the building housing newspaper Jornal@Verdade [pt], where the population can write letters and direct reflections to the governing leaders.
It is an original form of communication, whose effectiveness and accessibility are inherent in its very simplicity. In a way, it acts as an authentic “offline Facebook wall”, as conceived of in the blog Menina do Javali:
The idea of the Wall was to create a permanent and offline space for readers to read (simple) and to comment (simple).
So, just a piece of chalk is needed for any citizen to express his or her complaints in a public and open way, whether they are related to education, health, safety, or any other demand directed at public policies or leaders. In this way, there is greater democratisation of the rights of citizens to petition and make demands.
The People's Wall – Maputo. Photo from the blog Menina do Javali (used with permission)
The inspiration came from the project “Before I Die” by Candy Chang, initiated in New Orleans (the USA), which already has international support and has been implemented in numerous cities around the world. It basically involves the transformation of a wall into an immense mural with the phrase “Before I die_____” repeated many times, voluntarily completed by people who, in doing so, share their hopes and dreams in a public place.
The People's Wall of Maputo, officially started on January 20, is already accessible virtually: via the Internet, it is possible to follow many of the messages written in the Cidadão Repórter [Citizen Reporter – pt] section of the newspaper's website. Additionally, the reported issues are classified and organised according to place and date, thereby forming a rich database for potential consultations.
One of the topics frequently raised through the Citizen Reporter platform is police corruption [pt]. On the People's Wall, a citizen addresses his or her message [pt] to the authorities:
Polícia de transito, parem com a corrupcao. Assim, o nosso país ira desenvolver. Como vamos progredir se tiram-nos o pouco que ganhamos no suor do dia a dia.
The People's Wall. Photo from the blog Menina do Javali
Many also express concerns related to education, such as the recent imposition of deductions from teacher's salaries for the organisation of a party congress for FRELIMO [Mozambique Liberation Front], the conditions in which children attend class, or the lack of books in schools [pt – all links]:
Disse o magnanimo 1o Presidente da Republica que: Façamos da escola um lugar para o povo tomar o poder, mas se formos a reparar, meus caros senhores, hoje em dia o poder e que esta a tomar o povo, vejamos uma coisa extremamente importante quando falamos concretamente da educação em todas as escolas secundárias do país nao temos os livros do novo curriculum nas nossas bibliotecas, e com tudo isso os futuros deste pais ficam sem foco e sem saber o que estes escritores falam acerca do mundo. Queremos os livros do novo curriculom nas nossas bibliotecas (Escola Secundaria da Polana)
The People's Wall of Maputo is a citizen media incentive which deserves its due attention; it unites the practice of democratic citizenship with public information and better relations between individuals, the place where they live and the community as a whole. Who knows, perhaps it will become international, just like its inspiration.

author: Joao Fernando Finazzi


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Singapore: “Blackest Month for Bloggers” · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Citing the numerous legal cases filed by Singapore public officials against prominent bloggers in the past month, Teo Soh Lung described the month of February 2012 as the “blackest month for bloggers and every Singaporean who treasures the right to free speech.”

author: Mong Palatino


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Singapore: Keeping Internet Safe · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Andrew Loh reacts to the proposal of the Singapore government to develop an Internet code of conduct. The blogger suggests alternative ways to keep internet safe for young people.


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Singapore’s Last Fishing Village · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Remember Singapore posts pictures of Seletar Fishing Village which is described as “one of the last places in Singapore where you can find local fishermen making a living by the sea”


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South Korea: Guidelines for Stopping Jeju Naval Base Constructions · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

The Global Justice blog wrote about what individuals can do to promote and encourage protests against the Jeju naval base construction which has been blamed for destroying a rare ecosystem and disrupting the resident's livelihoods. Recently violent clashes between the government and protesters erupted as the construction launch date draws near.


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Syria: Campaign to Stop One Year of Bloodshed · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.
Zeinab from Egypt joins the campaign
To mark the first anniversary of the violence which accompanied the Syrian revolution, which started on March 15, 2011, a campaign is being launched to mobilise a global action for celebrities, leading Twitter users and NGOs (CIHRS, FIDH, etc.) from around the world to mount a massive call on world leaders to unite and stop the bloodshed there.
People are being encouraged to take photographs holding a sign saying “UNITE FOR SYRIA” or “STOP ONE YEAR OF BLOODSHED” in their own language and upload them on the campaign's Facebook Page. The campaign runs from Brazil to Indonesia to the Arab world and aims to generate as many reactions as possible.
On March 15, a global celebrity video will be launched, alongside the hash tag #UniteForSyria on Twitter.
In support of the global call, 50 world leaders have published an open letter in the Financial Times calling on UN Security Council members to “Unite for Syria and Stop One Year of bloodshed”.
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.


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The Balkans: Debating Angelina Jolie’s Film and the Legacy of War · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Angelina Jolie’s In the Land of Blood and Honey, a film set in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War, has received much publicity, both positive and negative, in the Balkans, adding fuel to the ongoing debate on the legacy of the bloodshed that took place in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
It appears that many of those participating in the discussion of the film haven't had a chance to actually watch it.
Belgrade-based blogger Viktor Markovic wrote this on his Belgraded blog:
For starters, I have to say that even though it was labeled as “a propaganda movie” I must say that the propaganda failed on the very first step as it was extremely difficult to even find the movie to see it in the first place. It’s like it’s being shown in just a couple of cinemas in the world – one could say that because of this poor marketing, the movie is a disgrace to proper propaganda movies. […]
Angelina Jolie received a Person of the Year award from the Bosnian newspaper Dnevni Avaz, prior to attending the premiere of 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Photo by EUROPA NEWSWIRE, copyright © Demotix (10/01/12).
UK-based Marko Attila Hoare wrote this on his Greater Surbiton blog:
Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey, is difficult to watch. Difficult to watch in the sense that, here in the UK, it hasn’t been released, and there doesn’t appear to be any information about when or where it will be – certainly not on the movie’s official website, nor in any of the reviews that have appeared in UK newspapers. I spent the first three days of this week in Washington DC, where I found that the film was no longer playing in that city either, and that Amazon.com would not sell me the download since my debit card had a UK address. I have now managed to see the film – unfortunately, only the English-language version – via a link posted by a friend on Facebook.
In the Land of Blood and Honey‘s unavailability for viewing is odd, considering the widespread publicity it has received, the controversy that has surrounded it and the fame and popularity of the director. […]
For UK-based Alan Jaksic of Balkan Anarchist, who has blogged at length about In the Land of Blood and Honey, not watching the film in its entirety was a conscious choice:
[…] I haven't seen the film myself; I've only seen clips of it on YouTube. And I'm not really sure I want to watch it — not because I'm afraid that I'll be deeply offended by it, but because I'm not that keen to see such an emotionally-charged war movie wherever it's set on the planet! […]
Markovic wrote this about Jolie's depiction of the war:
[…] There are some really disturbing scenes in the movie. This was one of the things that upset the public opinion in Serbia most, because the public opinion doesn’t accept that anyone on Serbian side was that cruel. Unfortunately, I believe real war was even more cruel and disturbing than any movie can describe. […]
And here is Hoare's take on the same aspect of the film:
[…] Nor, however, are the horrors and violence portrayed here of the comic-book, caricatured variety. Inevitably, this film has come under fire from the Great Serb, genocide-denying lobby for supposedly being ‘anti-Serb’, and portraying ‘the Serbs’ as monsters. Well, it is ‘anti-Serb’ in the same way that films like Schindler’s List or The Pianist are ‘anti-German’. […]
Australia-based Ina Vukic wrote this in her post about Jolie's film:
[…] In all its history, movie making has been about bringing to the world portrayals of factual as well as fictional events. Jolie has brought a factual story of horror told by fictional characters. There’s no propaganda in that. But even if it were propaganda then it’s high time for more of it because justice has not yet been served to all the innocent victims, and especially not to rape victims in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. […]
Jaksic explains why Jolie's film is considered “offensive” by many in Serbia:
[…] Many of us Serbs feel that the film revamps that deeply negative, media image about our people, which Western viewers had become accustomed to during the '90s, that we are a nation of cruel, sadistic, war criminals, hell-bent on ethnic cleansing, and as such, we were as bad as the Nazis of World War Two! Now, I don't deny the seriousness and the gravity of all those allegations of war crimes etc. against a whole host of Serb leaders, both political and military, all of which has coloured people's negative views on us as a people. However, it must be borne in mind that all this negative press from that time left us Serbs, both back home and in the diaspora, feeling dehumanised and demonised, but most of all, misunderstood by the world. […]
However, what really offends and frustrates a lot of us Serbs about Jolie's film, whether we've seen it in full or just clips of it, is how it mainly depicts the suffering of one side of the war, i.e. the Bosniak side. This doesn't mean that we object to the production of any film that may portray the Bosniaks as the main victims; after all, they did suffer greatly during that war from 1992 to 1995, and we shouldn't deny that at all. However, what bothers a lot of us Serbs is how very little is known about the suffering of our own people during that conflict and others in the '90s. […] Of course, we Serbs are aware of war crimes committed by our own against others, and many of us do feel ashamed of all that. But we are also concerned about the fate of our own victims from those conflicts too, and it displeases us how even now very little is known about them. […]
Markovic, in his turn, explains why it is wrong to treat In the Land of Blood and Honey as “an anti-Serbian movie”:
[…] Yes, the movie has only the Serbian military as bad guys. But, and this seems to be hard to grasp for great majority of Serbs: this fact doesn’t make the movie anti-Serbian. This is because – are you ready for this – one Serbian military squadron does not represent even the entire Serbian army, let alone the entire Serb population. But it’s the trap majority of Serb population tends to fall into: we defend ourselves even if no one is really attacking us, and by doing so we end up defending the real bad guys – the war criminals. […]
Jaksic also writes on the “tendency among all Balkan nations to feel offended by another nation's sense of victimhood”:
[…] On many occasions while surfing the net, reading messages on various Ex-Yu forums, comments under YouTube videos and discussion pages of Wikipedia articles, I've seen how easily offended, for instance, my fellow Serbs can feel when they hear Croats accusing them of war crimes against them, and unsurprisingly, the same is the case the other way round! And it's not just the recent conflicts that cause heated disputes; even different interpretations of distant periods of history can rouse offense, such as the Serbian and Bosniak view of Ottoman rule in the Balkans! And as we can see with the reception of Jolie's In the land of blood and honey, even films by outsiders can offend local nations, and not just some YouTube comments!
Vukic hopes that “Jolie’s movie will trigger more investigations and prosecution of all rapists from the war in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina”:
[…] So, I say: “good on you, Angelina! Now make a movie on the thousands upon thousands of rape victims in Croatia because Croatian women who were raped by the Serbs during the 1990’s war still await their justice. […]
Markovic points out that the film isn't likely to serve as the closing argument in the painful post-war debate:
[…] the thing that puzzles me the most, and I know I am not the only one is – how is this movie supposed to contribute to reconciliation? Which is, according to Jolie’s statements, her goal with this. […]

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Trinidad & Tobago: Bagoo Raid Raises Question of Press Freedom  · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

Just over a month ago, the offices of Newsday, one of Trinidad and Tobago's daily newspapers, were raided by the police. They were looking for information related to an article written by journalist and blogger Andre Bagoo, which was published on December 20, 2011.
The “Bitter Row” the article spoke of was an alleged conflict between the Chairman of the Integrity Commission, Ken Gordon, and the Deputy Chairman, retired Justice Gladys Gafoor. Shortly after this initial raid, Bagoo’s home was also placed under surveillance and searched. Bagoo’s refusal of a police request to reveal the source for his story led to the seizure of his notebooks and computer hard-drive.
The brouhaha apparently revolved around Gafoor’s refusal to recuse herself – at the behest of Gordon – from a tribunal concerning John Jeremie, the former Attorney General. Jeremie had, upon assuming the office of Attorney General, declined to renew Gafoor’s appointment as an Industrial Court Judge, imposing a mandatory retirement age of sixty-five.
Jeremie also later shelved a report made by a Commission of Inquiry into the country's health sector, which Gafoor had chaired. Much of the online discussion was happening within the confines of Facebook, but there was also a fair bit of blogger commentary on the issue.
Wesley Gibbings, head of the Association of Caribbean Media Workers, felt that the raid merely reflected the value that Caribbean societies place on press freedom:
I have long contended that press freedom is not an instinctive rallying point for people of this small twin-island state (nor for the rest of the English-speaking Caribbean for that matter). That people are more culturally inclined toward direct, official censorship and regulation than they are toward unfettered media activity and free expression.
Gibbings also noted a great irony in the impetus for the raid:
The actions of the police also followed a report on the presumed leaking of information to the press from the country’s Integrity Commission, now chaired by former media entrepreneur, Ken Gordon – considered by many to be among the modern pioneers of regional press freedom activism. It was Gordon himself who threatened to get to the bottom of what appeared to be an unlawful sharing of confidential Integrity Commission information.
Social activist Philip Edward Alexander was troubled by the precedent which is being set:
There is an old Afghan saying –  ‘That which is obvious does not need to be explained.’ The abuses we allow, regardless of how small or temporarily justified could have the cumulative effect of changing where we stand now and what we stand for in the future. Reporters without Borders 2011-2012 Press Freedom Index ranked T&T tied for fifty first with Latvia, but just ahead of Haiti out of one hundred and seventy nine countries. Surprisingly Canada came in tenth, which indicates that at the very least our Commissioner and his assistant knows (sic) better.
Referencing the inquiry into the CLICO/CL Financial scandal, Alexander found the underlying issue of secrecy to be just as troubling as the raid:
Ostensibly being justified to protect the internal workings of the Integrity Commission, looked at strictly from that point of view, the non disclosure and secrecy that certain public institutions such as the Integrity Commission rely on should in no way be used to hoodwink or deceive the population. Oaths of confidentiality should never be allowed to trump the greater good as they end up either being a law onto themselves or worse, working against the nation's best interest.
Rhoda Bharath had a similar sentiment and even wondered whether there should still be an Integrity Commission:
This latest snafu with the IC has many calling for an end to the institution. What’s the point of this committee if we clearly no longer have citizens with integrity. It seems every week there’s a new problem with a member of the integrity commission. From priests who plagiarise, to entire Commissions being found lacking and having to dismantle. If we don’t have the people to man the board….then dismantle the Pappy Show!
The issue also garnered regional attention. Barbados Free Press noted that this was not just an issue in Trinidad:
We’ve had our own problems here in Barbados with the police strong-arming journalists, seizing their cameras and arresting journalists for photographing accident scenes and corrupt police officers. As a society we must be vigilant and aggressive about preserving the independence and freedom of the press. History has too many examples of what happens when citizens drop their guard.


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Tunisia: Paying Tribute to Cyber Dissident Zouhair Yahyaoui · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

"National Day for Internet Freedom" Photo by inf0mag.blogspot.com
Today marks the seventh death anniversary of Zouhair Yahyaoui, the first Tunisian cyber activist, to be detained during the regime of Zeine El Abidin Ben Ali. On his website TUNeZINE [fr], Yahyaoui had criticized Ben Ali's corrupt and autocratic regime.
In a poll published on his website, Yahyaoui once asked:
According to you Tunisia is a republic, a kingdom, a zoo, a prison or nothing?
Although he used the pseudonym Ettounsi (The Tunisian in English), the Tunisian authorities, succeeded in tracking him down, and detaining him. He was arrested on June, 4, 2000, and one year later, a court in Tunis sentenced him to two years in prison for “publishing false information”, “non-authorized use of an Internet connection” and “theft from an employer.”
In November, 2003, and due to international pressure, the authorities granted him conditional release. Yahyaoui spent a period of 18 months behind bars, during which he was tortured, and abused, both physically, and verbally. As a consequence, he faced some serious health issues, such as kidney problems. On March, 13, 2005, he passed away following a heart attack.
Yahyaoui won numerous international awards for his fight for net freedom. Reporters Without Borders awarded him the ‘CyberLiberty’ award for his “contribution to the freedom of information on the internet”.
In his memory , and in recognition of his cyber activism, and his sacrifices for a more democratic Tunisia, March 13 is now the National Day of Internet Freedom in the country.
Blogger Kamel Mahdhaoui pays tribute [fr] to Yahyaoui saying:
Je prie pour que Dieu nous pardonne de n’avoir pas entendu suffisamment Zouhair, Bouazizi, et les martyrs de tout lieu et tout temps.
Hommage à Zouhair Yahyaoui dit Ettounsi de Tunezine.
Hommage pour son combat pour la liberté sur Internet et pour la dignité.
Il nous a quittés le dimanche 13 mars 2005.
Tribute to his fight for Internet freedom, and for dignity.
He left us on Sunday, March 13, 2005.
The author of the blog March, 13 Zouhair Yahyaoui day for net freedom, a blog that was launched to dedicate March 13 to Yahyaoui writes [fr]:
Zouhair Yahyaoui était un de ces nombreux jeunes diplômés tunisiens qui ont violemment et douloureusement subi les conséquences de la dictature de Ben Ali dès leur entrée dans l'âge adulte.
Sa liberté, il a voulu la prendre, sans attendre que les conditions soient favorables, ou plus faciles, sans attendre que ce soit ” le meilleur moment ” (…)Sur son site, sur ses forums, il dénonce infatigablement les atteintes aux droits de l'Homme, les procès injustes, il y soutient les opposants au régime.
@Paillon raises a key question on whether those who harmed Yahyaoui, have been held accountable or not. She tweets [fr]:
Je suppose que les juges, procureurs et policiers qui ont detruit la vie de Zouhair Yahyaoui sont sous les verrous ?

author: Afef Abrougui


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Tunisia: The New Phase of Social Media  · Global Voices
Ahmed Medien

The use of social media has grown popular during the days of the Tunisian revolution in early January 2011. Many Tunisians joined Facebook to keep up with the news and join in the social media activism against the oppressive regime crackdown. Now, more than a year after the fall of the regime, Tunisians run thousands of Facebook pages; Politicians have also joined the social network to interact with millions of Tunisians in the fastest and most efficient way.
Facebook uses have increased among Tunisians. They serve as platform for associations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and youth initiatives, to name a few.
The Tunisian Facebook page, Ateliers ouvert de blogging, for instance, promotes the culture of blogging among Tunisian internet users. It was created after the revolution and now boasts 371 members. Bloggers from different regions of Tunisian use the page to organize events, discussions and introduce new bloggers to meet with the experienced ones to share their blogging experience.
Culture for Citizenship is another page that encourages youth to take part of the democratic transition and promote the culture of citizenship among Tunisian youth.
The page describes the group as follows:
The goal of this non-profit organization is to promote human rights and active citizenship through cultural activities and events.
The Facebook page does a lot more such as promoting cultural events among youth. A recent project of the organization was an English-dubbed play of the deceased Tunisian author Mustapha Fersi.
Facebook is also hosts serious Tunisian NGOs. Tunisie Tolérence acts solely on Facebook and its website. The NGO has more than 8000 ‘likes’. Tunisie Tolerence administrators use their page to publish their press releases and organize events.
Another youth initiative that stood out since the revolution is Association Jeunes Liberté. The young association's first initiative was a clean up campaign in the capital Tunis, which attracted hundreds of volunteers to join the event. The organization has about 3,500 virtual adherents who take part of its different events and campaign across the entire country. The last initiative was to actually raise funds and collect donations for poor areas of Tunisia.
Wajdi Ben Saad, a youth activist and head of the association, says:
Facebook and social media gave us an unlimited access to people and to unlimited resources and ideas and suggestions.
Social media seems to help small NGOs and youth initiatives to reach out to more people and opportunities. It also has the necessary tools such as multimedia sharing systems that allow these Tunisian youth to share their experience and engage even more people around their vision.
Tunisian activists today grasp that Facebook is a faster way to communicate with others, share ideas and mobilize citizens for different events and causes.
Apart from Facebook, the internet is a host for many other Tunisian social media.Cahierdeliberte.org is an interface for Tunisian bloggers and non-bloggers alike to submit their articles and thoughts on the internet.
Fhimt.com  is another citizen media project that publishes articles written by Tunisians. The name is inspired from Tunisian ex-president, Ben Ali, whose last words was fhimtcom (I understand you, people of Tunisia).The website offers news article as well as translations of other mainstream articles in order to inform Tunisians about the latest happenings across the globe. Topics usually deal with freedoms and open governance.
The internet is now more than just a platform to exchange rapid information in Tunisia. Facebook, blogs and citizen websites serve now to help Tunisians express their opinions freely.

author: Ahmed Medien


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Unemployment Woes of Young Singaporeans · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Gilbert Goh writes about the unemployment woes faced by young Singaporeans, in particular those who belong to the so-called Generation Y.


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Video: 10 tips to make your videos better · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Adam Westbrook shares 10 tips to make your online videos look better. Paired up with good storytelling, things like tripod use, closeups, controlling thumbnails, sound, bitrates, color correction, compression and meta data can help your video make its mark.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Video: Share Your Challenges and Win an iPad2 in Contest · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

The Bertelsmann Foundation's FutureChallenges initiative wants to hear about the challenges faced by people all around the world. By making a video and uploading it to their Facebook page, you could win a new iPad2.
Future Challenges focuses on finding the ways different global trends relate to each other in different regional contexts. Through articles and Local Views from countries all around the world, writers delve into how topics like climate change, demographic change, natural resources and biodiversity, health, security and Anti/Terror Policy, education, globalization, migration, new governance and technology affect each other and impact communities.
From the contest's terms and conditions:
With its ‘FutureChallenger’ Facebook campaign, FutureChallenges wants to give interested people the opportunity to present their own views about what challenges the future will bring.
The international competition starts out with the aim of giving different people from different cultural backgrounds and disciplines the chance to submit a powerful video that will help raise awareness about the issues they feel strongly about.
The deadline for the videos is March 22nd, when voting will commence on selected videos to choose the winner.
Joh Correia, a singer from the Banda Quero in Brazil puts forth her challenge for the future in this subtitled video:
Adnane Addioui in Morocco believes that the challenge is in making people care and take responsibility for issues:
Rapper Ty Phoon in the Netherlands believes that privacy and control of our online footprint is a challenge:
What do YOU think are the future challenges? Make a video and submit it through the Future Challenges Facebook page and win an iPad2!


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A Documentary of the History of Black People in France  · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

The blog Afro Europe reports on a new film about the black community in France: ” Noirs de France” (“Blacks of France”) is a new documentary of the history of black people in France. It's based on the book “La France Noir” of French historian Pascal Blanchard. The documentary is aired on France 5 in 3 episodes and will be will be available on DVD on 20 February 2012. A traveling exhibition is also on the program.”

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Afghanistan: Sunday’s massacre  · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust reviews media reactions and provides his own comments regarding the massacre on Sunday of 16 innocent Afghans — 9 of them children.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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After Kony 2012, “What I Love About Africa” Reclaims Narrative · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

This post is part of our special coverage Kony 2012.
Anyone following online citizen media closely this month, would inevitably have come across the heated global debate over the Invisible Children viral campaign to stop Ugandan war criminal and rebel army leader Joseph Kony.
While the Kony 2012 campaign certainly received the attention it sought, many Ugandans and Africans felt its message lacked the nuance required by context, and was more focused on raising funds for the organisation's own survival rather than empowering the people affected by the conflict.
Furthermore, many African citizens felt that once again, the narrative of a highly publicized story about Africa centered on a negative story and neglected the upwards trends the continent has been witnessing.
As a counter measure, many people started posting stories on Twitter about “what they love about Africa” with the hash tag #WhatILoveAboutAfrica.
what I love About Africa trending worlwide by Semhar Araia – @Semhar
The initiative, spearheaded by Semhar Araia, a blogger at the Diaspora African Women Network (DAWNS), started to  trend worldwide on Twitter on March 13, 2012.
The other side of the story
While no one argues with the merit of exposing the despicable crimes perpetuated by Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, the following citizen media commentaries explain why this debate is more than just a “meme war” but a struggle to reclaim the international perception and narrative about an entire continent.
When a group of North Ugandans, the main victims of Kony's crimes, were showed the Invisible Children's video in a public screening, they were not particularly pleased with the content of the video as is seen in an Al Jazeera English video below.
“If people in those countries care about us, they will not wear t-shirts with pictures of Joseph Kony for any reason,” says one man interviewed. “That would celebrate our suffering.”
A Ugandan man at another screening says, “There is some kind of people, some NGO, who are trying to mobilize funds using the atrocities committed in Northern Uganda.”
The campaign to show the positive sides of Africa has garnered quite a bit of clout as well in the social media scene. American student and Afrophile Karen Kilberg collected a few of her favorite posts about the meme, and also quotes African blogger Tatenda Muranda on Twitter as to why she wrote the post:
@IamQueenNzinga: It's about time we ushered in the era of afro-optimism through words and action
Kenyan journalist Paula Rogo curated on Storify of the “best and the worst” of the “WhatIloveAboutAfrica” conversation. Here are a few posts from her selection:
@mwanabibi: #WhatILoveAboutAfrica The youth! Hopeful, optimistic and innovative
@Sarenka222: #WhatILoveAboutAfrica resilient, perceptive, courageous, independent press, even in the face of intimidation (cc: @dailymonitor :)
@RiseAfrica: RT @texasinafrica: Innovations like mobile money, crowdsourced crisis mapping. #WhatILoveAboutAfrica
Map of Africa tagged by participants of Barcamp Africa in October 2008, from the Maneno Flickr photostream
The old struggle for the African narrative
Reclaiming the narrative about the African Continent through social media is not a new endeavor. In 2007, a similar campaign brewed throughout the African social media when several prominent bloggers invited fellow bloggers to weigh in on “Why I blog about Africa”.
Ivorian blogger Théophile Kouamouo asked in 2008 [fr]:
Bloguons nous pour la diaspora et le vaste monde, coupé de nos contemporains sur le continent ? Blogue-t-on sur l'Afrique comme on blogue sur l'Europe ou l'Asie ? La blogosphère afro-orientée a-t-elle quelque chose de spécifique à offrir au concert de l'universel version 2.0 ?
The meme was remarkable in that it not only managed to spurt plenty of reactions in the West African region but also spread across the continent to the African Anglophone blogosphere. As a commentary to the meme back then, Rombo of “What an African Woman Thinks” provided an inspiring response to What she loves about Africa:
Africa is under my skin. Africa is the voices in my head. Africa is the itch on my back that I can’t quite reach.
[…] She’s beautiful and she’s strong and she’s got so much to give, she inspires me and I love her truly madly deeply.
She’s battered and bruised and sometimes broken and I love her even more.
She’s always on my mind and in my heart.
It’s not so much, then, that I choose to blog about Africa. It’s that I can’t not.
I really wish the world would see in her all that I see in her.
That’s another reason why I blog about Africa: To make this wish come true.
Sokari of Black Looks added back then:
… she makes me angry and frustrated, lets me down, goes on walkabouts and is influenced by some pretty horrible characters many from distant lands. But I cant help loving her deeply – she is alive, she is real and wise with so many wonderful meaningful stories of humanity and life. She is rich in stature and spirit. I love the way she moves, her facial expressions, the taste of her food and the smell and colours of the earth
The struggle for the narrative is an old story indeed. Binyavanga Wainaina wrote a famous essay about “How to write about Africa” in 2005. This essay was turned into a video called “How Not to Write About Africa” narrated by actor Djimon Hounsou:
In view of the long, drown out struggle to portray the positive side of the continent, one might wonder why it is such a challenge to change the global perspective of the continent and why it matters so much to many people.
An answer to why it is important to highlight the positive side of the continent was offered during the TED Africa conference by Euvin Naidoo, president of the South African Chamber of Commerce. He argues that trust is an important component for investments in Africa, and that a better understanding of all the nuances of the continent is required. He states:
George Kimble said, ‘The only thing dark about Africa is our ignorance of it.’ So let's start shedding light on this amazing eclectic continent that has so much to offer [..] The first myth to dispel is that Africa is not a country. It’s made up of 53 different countries. So to say ‘invest in Africa’ is a no-go. It's meaningless.
This post is part of our special coverage Kony 2012.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Armenia: Bridging the divide? · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Global Chaos comments on the launch of a new web site by the Armenian Ministry of Diaspora. Charged with the task of bridging the divide between Armenians in Armenia and communities abroad, the blog explains why the site fails on so many levels.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Armenia: Eurovision withdrawal a wasted opportunity · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Cilicia.com comments on recent news that Armenia has withdrawn from the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, capital of neighboring Azerbaijan. Taking a pro-Armenian line on the matter, the blog says that Azerbaijan had no choice but to allow Armenia to participate, and to provide guarantees that Armenians could visit Azerbaijan for the contest, which it did. The opportunity, Cilicia.com opines, was wasted with Armenia shooting itself in the foot.


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Azerbaijan: Pyrrhic victory · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Again writing on Facebook, journalist Khadija Ismayil, recently under pressure with an alleged threat of blackmail, provides five reasons why the Eurovision Song Contest to be staged this May in Baku might prove to be a Pyrrhic victory for Azerbaijan.


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Bolivia: A Serious Bid to Lift UN Ban on the Coca Leaf?  · Global Voices
Pablo Andres Rivero

Demonstrations and public acts, led by both coca growers and traders, took place on Monday, March 12, 2012, in many cities in Bolivia demanding the international depenalisation of the coca leaf.
Local media informed [es] that 40 thousand people were due to join “coca-chewing day” [referred to in Bolivia as acullicu or pijcheo].
These public events are part of the Bolivian government's international strategy for depenalising the coca leaf, and took place at the same time that President Evo Morales, himself a former coca grower and union leader, was addressing the Commission on Narcotic Drugs at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna, Austria three years after his last visit.
Coca leaves on a table at a coca-growers' meeting. Photo by Jusada (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Coca is a native plant to the Andes. It has been cultivated and consumed for centuries in the region. It is used for medicinal and ritual purposes, and is also well known as a natural energy supplier. Popular tradition, particularly in the Western part of Bolivia, considers coca a “sacred” leaf.
In spite of its nutrients and the traditional consumption, coca leaves are also the raw material for cocaine production, a fact that the Bolivian government acknowledges and pledges to deal with.
Eduardo Bowles, a blogger based in La Paz, commented on his blog [es]:
En las últimas semanas se ha estado hablando hasta el cansancio sobre los preparativos del viaje del presidente, pero además de la noticia de que Evo Morales masticará coca frente todos en Viena, que viajará acompañado de algunos dirigentes cocaleros y que llevará consigo algunas “hojas sagradas” cultivadas en los Yungas, es poco lo que se conoce sobre el contenido de la posición boliviana ante la JIFE [Junta Internacional de Fiscalización de Estupefacientes]. Debemos recordar que no es la primera vez que el mandatario boliviano cumplirá con el ritual del acullico en la ONU, hecho que no redundó en beneficios palpables para la imagen de la coca en el mundo.
The goal of coca-grower unions and Bolivia's government is to depenalise not only coca production but also its consumption, which is banned by the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, something President Morales has called a “historic mistake”.
In June 2011 the Bolivian government decided to withdraw from the 1961 UN Convention. According to the government's current strategy, the country would join the convention again after a reverse on the coca ban. I have written a more in-depth analysis on the 1961 UN Convention and the coca leaf on my personal blog [es].
During his speech in Vienna President Morales emphasized that there is no evidence that the coca leaf, in its natural state, is harmful to human health (the speech is available on this external podcast). Nevertheless, Mario Duran Chuquimia, a blogger based in El Alto, comments [es]:
Al respecto, son interesantes algunos datos, el presidente Morales utiliza las hojas de coca producidas en los Yungas ya que las del Chapare tienen otras características, tampoco se menciona los destinos de la coca prensada y que en Bolivia 6 de cada 10 habitantes no acostumbra acullicar.
The issue of coca leaf production in Bolivia is frequently addressed on mainstream international media from a narcotics standpoint. However, in Bolivia the situation is more complex.
On Twitter, civil society expressed its support for traditional coca consumption but also stressed the fact that coca is part of cocaine production.
As anonymous Twitter user @LaMarielle, while sharing a video of a popular song against American intervention and for coca traditional consumption, said [es]:
Y me uno a la jornada de acullicu en protesta por la falta de una política nacional de dignificación de la hoja de coca
Also, Tuffi Aré (@tuffiare), a journalist based in Santa Cruz, commented on Twitter [es]:
Un estudio del Celin establece que el acullico tiende a bajar. Identifica al sector minero como el que mas pijchea coca
Another journalist, Andrés Gómez (@AndrsGomezV), director of community radio network Erbol, also commented on Twitter [es]:
Buenos días en el día destinado a recordar que el acullicu está prohibido injustamente en Bolivia por la Convención de 1961
In reply to Andrés Gómez, Carlos Salas (@carlos_rs131) wrote on Twitter [es]:
es parte de nuestra CULTURA el acullicu, pero no dejemos que lo sea el narcotrafico
Eduardo Bowles, concludes on his blog-post [es]:
Hubiera sido plausible que el Gobierno lleve ante un foro tan importante, el estudio sobre la coca que tanto le ha prometido al país, los resultados de la política de industrialización y por supuesto, logros más alentadores en materia de lucha contra el narcotráfico. Nadie va a discutir que la coca merece un estatus especial en Bolivia y sería iluso pensar en que debe ser erradicada por completo o considerada una droga, pero lamentablemente su defensa luce poco seria.

author: Pablo Andres Rivero


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Both Koreas Appear on Reporters Without Borders’ Annual List on Internet Censorship · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Reporters Without Borders released its annual report on internet censorship. North Korea again appeared on the “enemies of the internet” list and South Korea joined the list of “countries under surveillance” due to the government's clamp down on online contents considered “Pro-North Korea”. North Korea Tech blog wrote a brief analysis on this.


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China: Kony 2012, Chinese Netizen Reactions · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fauna from ChinaSMACK translated Chinese netizens’ reaction to “Kony 2012″.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: New Criminal Procedure Law Undermine Human Rights · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Samuel Wade from China Digital Times summed up the discussion on how the proposed amendment of criminal procedure law in China will undermine human rights.


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Colombia: Barranquilla Short Film Festival Call for Entries · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Friday March 17th is the last day to submit a 30 minute or less short film or documentary for the XII International Short Film Festival A la Calle in Barranquilla, Colombia. Awards will be given to the best local, national and international short film and documentary.


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Cuba: 50 Years of the “Libreta”  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Citizens are divided between those who fear that its disappearance will result in hunger among the poor and those who believe that it is cheaper to subsidize people than products”: The Cuban embargo isn't the only thing that recently turned 50 – so has the Cuban ration book. Havana Times explains.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Cuba: Debate on Yoani Sánchez’s Twitter Account · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

On February 26, 2012, an opinion article [es] published in the Mexico City-based daily newspaper La Jornada called Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez a “fraud” because of her high levels of activity and popularity on Twitter. A year after Sánchez began her blog, Generación Y [es], the site was garnering an average of 15 million views per month. Since this time, Sánchez has received numerous accolades from press freedom and human rights organizations around the world. On Twitter, Sánchez has 226,000 followers (as of March 8, 2012) and follows roughly 80,000 people.
Op-ed author Salim Lamrani, a French scholar and regular contributor to The Huffington Post and to Cuban state media such as CubaDebate [es], argues that Internet access restrictions in Cuba should make it impossible for Sánchez to maintain this level of activity on Twitter.
…[R]esulta absolutamente imposible seguir a más de 80 mil personas, sólo por sms o a partir de una conexión semanal desde un hotel. Un acceso diario a la red es indispensable para ello.
[…]
Yoani Sánchez emite un promedio de 9.3 mensajes al día. En 2011, la bloguera publicó un promedio de 400 mensajes al mes. El precio de un mensaje en Cuba es de un peso convertible (CUC), lo que representa un total de 400 CUC mensuales.
Screenshot of Twitter feed for Yoani Sanchez.
Lamrani’s claims begged bloggers and Twitter users to speculate on how Sánchez maintains such a robust presence on the microblogging site without regular access to the Web. (Note: While Lamrani points to the difficulties that Cubans face in accessing the web, he also reveals the astronomical cost of sending an SMS or text message via cell phone in Cuba.)
Like Lamrani, blogger Josep Calvet [es] concluded that Sánchez must be receiving outside help with her account:
Podría ocurrir que esas personas a las que sigue [Yoani Sánchez], hayan sido las primeras en seguirla a ella y ella responde siguiéndolos. Eso [requeriria] unos recursos enormes que ella afirma no tiene. […] [En] mi cuenta de Twitter que si quiero tener seguidores, una forma elemental es seguir a mucha gente y siempre se obtiene reciprocidad. Pero yo sé lo que eso cuesta en dedicación, teniendo una conexión bastante buena. En este caso, son terceras personas las que administran esa cuenta. ¿Quiénes?
Sánchez has openly explained that her blog is hosted in Germany and operated by friends who reside abroad. She has never said that she receives outside help with her Twitter account, but considering the evidence that Lamrani cites, it is reasonable to assume that she does. Some argue that she does this simply in her best interest: she wants her message to reach as many people as possible, so she has solicited help from others. Whether or not this makes her a “fraud” may be a matter of opinion.
Lamrani also noted that Sánchez has numerous “ghost” followers, a point that he found using the Twitter analytics program Followerwonk. Roughly 10 percent of Sánchez's 226,000 followers have tweeted a maximum of three times since they joined Twitter. The report also shows that Sánchez has large numbers of followers who follow only her.
Barcelona-based Cuban writer and Penúltimos Días author Ernesto Hernández Busto [es] rejected the notion that these so-called “ghost” followers proved Sánchez a fraud:
Salim Lamrani —y toda la e-propaganda cubana—, escandalizados porque el 1 % de los seguidores de Yoani Sánchez en Twitter no tiene ningún seguidor. Hay que ser un ignorante sobre el funcionamiento de las redes sociales para convertir eso en noticia. En todas las cuentas populares de Twitter de este mundo hay trolls, robots y seguidores sin seguidor.
Lamrani’s article did not acknowledge that high profile Twitter users are likely to receive more spam and encounter more robots than those who have a few hundred or even a few thousand followers. Ryan Singel, editor at Wired Magazine, explained the Twitter “bot” phenomenon after interviewing Del Harvey, Twitter’s head of trust and safety:
The people behind [bots] are hoping to appeal to your narcissism. If you’re someone who reflexively follows anyone who follows you, you’ll be inviting spam messages until you unfollow or block the offending accounts.
[…]
One website that sells Twitter bot software promises to acquire 1,500 to 3,500 followers per week. The software lets spammers control multiple accounts, mask their IP address via proxies, and find followers by location or time zone for targeted hits.
It is important to recognize that Sánchez's activity on Twitter represents only one among many pieces of evidence of her popularity in Latin America and throughout the world. It is difficult to know what individuals or entities might be helping to maintain her ever-growing online presence. Regardless of claims from either side of the debate, it is clear that Sánchez's message continues to reach and affect millions of Internet users around the world, and this is a powerful engine for her cause.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


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El Salvador: Netizens Cover Legislative and Mayoral Elections · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Netizens in El Salvador covered the legislative and mayoral elections held on Sunday, March 11, 2012, through blogs and social media. They reported throughout the day and then analyzed the results on the following days; on Twitter Salvadorans used the hashtag #eleccionesSV [es].
One of the blogs that stayed on top of the elections and offered background information for local and international readers was El Salvador from the Inside:
Today, March 11, 2012, up to 4.5 million Salvadorans will vote for 84 senators and 262 mayors in a legislative and municipal election. Nine parties are running (and 5 candidates are independent).
There is an exciting change in El Salvador with this election. Up to now, individual voters have not been able to elect individual “Senators” (Diputado is the word in Spanish for representatives in the legislative assembly).  Previously, you had to vote for a “party”, and the party would then choose the Diputado (sounds like an easy way to get re-elected, doesn’t it?).  Well, that’s half changed, because citizens can still vote for a “party,” like before, or they can now vote for individual candidates.
El Salvador 2012 ballot. The new open-list ballot used in the Salvadoran legislative election of March 11, 2012. Image uploaded to Flickr by Matthew Shugart (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Online newspaper El Faro posted several Storify posts with tweets, images and other citizen media of the campaign (1 [es], 2 [es]), the day before [es] the election, election day (1 [es], 2 [es]), the vote count, and signs of electoral fraud [es]
Jjmar from Hunnapuh wrote two posts on election day. First [es] he reported on problems affecting the start of the day in San Salvador. Later, towards the end of the day, he noted [es] more of the voting conditions and concluded:
Bueno amigos y amigas, después de las cinco de la tarde, siéntense es su sillón favorito, con una taza de cafecito para respetar la ley seca y diviértase un rato. Al fin y al cabo, la democracia formal tiene su lado de Reality Show que vale la pena disfrutar.
Tim's El Salvador Blog reported on the preliminary results on Monday, the day after the election:
According to provisional vote totals from yesterday's elections, the conservative ARENA [Nationalist Republican Alliance] party appears to have been the biggest winner for both El Salvador's National Assembly seats and mayors. ARENA won 33 seats in the 84 seat National Assembly.  This is one more seat than the party won in the 2009 elections, but is more impressive when you consider that 12 deputies had defected from ARENA to form the GANA [Grand Alliance for National Unity] party leaving ARENA with only 20 seats in the National Assembly.
GANA was running in its first elections, and managed to capture 11 seats. Together with ARENA, their 44 seats could be a strong majority bloc in the National Assembly.  Although it is still possible that the FMLN, GANA and CD [Democratic Change] could be a majority voting bloc with 43 votes.
These elections were seen as a test for President Mauricio Funes‘ left-leaning party FMLN (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front). The FMLN will now hold 31 seats in the National Assembly after losing 4 seats in these elections. This change in the National Assembly prompted blogger Marjuna [es] -also from Hunnapuh- to look at the math and voting formulas needed to reach a simple majority in the new National Assembly.
Chambita Hernandez from the blog Gatos Frentudos [es] points out that ARENA's results are a good sign for democracy because its representatives will be a “counterweight” in the National Assembly. Chambita says that the FMLN has time to learn from these results before the next elections and ends the post congratulating the Salvadoran people:
Felicito enormemente a la población salvadoreña que cumplió con su deber cívico de ir a votar, es un paso más en la democracia y espero que en la próxima elección tengamos muchas propuestas, menos canciones; más debates de altura entre contendientes y no decir que el verdadero debate es con el pueblo.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Europe: Will ACTA Treaty Pass After Protests? · Global Voices
Suzanne Lehn

[All links forward to French articles unless stated otherwise.]
As of the end of the month of February 2012, the mobilization efforts of Internet users against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) [en] were still going strong. In fact, they may have begun to bear fruit.
By including infringements against the author's rights in its scope, this international treaty, which addresses intellectual property rights, also affects Internet content.
The ratification debates which were placed on the European Parliament's agenda on February 29, were put on hold in expectation of the opinion of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The issue of the treaty's conformity with European Community law was brought before the court on 22 February by the European Commission.
No ACTA – Strasbourg. Photo by Christophe Kaiser on Flickr, CC-license-BY
Taurillon, the “magazine of young Europeans -France” describes “Europe's about-face on ACTA“:
Si l’avis est négatif, l’ACTA n’a plus aucune chance en Europe. Mais en cas d’avis positif, le recours à la CJUE représente le double avantage de redonner au traité une certaine crédibilité, et de repousser son adoption à une époque suffisamment lointaine pour que la polémique se soit tassée et que l’opinion publique regarde ailleurs.
Jérémie Zimmermann, co-founder and spokesperson for la Quadrature du Net urges on the European deputies:
Les eurodéputés doivent résister à la stratégie de la Commission européenne, qui cherche à gagner du temps et à transformer le débat en une simple discussion juridique, et pour cela continuer à travailler au rejet d’ACTA. ACTA vise à imposer une tendance pour une politique globale du droit d’auteur qui est toxique pour l’Internet libre et pour les libertés. Le Parlement européen est le dernier rempart : il doit agir et adopter une position claire et forte, faute de quoi il laissera le champ libre à la Commission pour imposer une répression inacceptable.
For trucbuntu, there is no question of remaining passive while waiting for the Court to adjudicate:
Les citoyens de toute l’Europe peuvent contacter leurs représentants dans les commissions Commerce International (INTA) et Industrie (ITRE), qui se réunissent cette semaine pour discuter d’ACTA, et leur demander de continuer à travailler au sein de leur commission pour le rejet d’ACTA.
The website of the European Parliament explains the procedure and the issues of the treaty [en] that are under scrutiny, and has published ‘What you should know about ACTA‘ [en], a page of questions and answers. The ACTA workshop of the European Parliament has been the object of a storify [en] made by the Parliamentary services (link via Global Voices contributor Asteris Masouras [en]).
The organization AVAAZ submitted a petition to the European Parliament on 29 February with 2.4 million signatures against ACTA. The petition is still open:
Nous sommes vraiment proches de la victoire — notre pétition forte de 2,4 millions de signatures a ébranlé les responsables politiques partout en Europe et stoppé les censeurs. La Commission européenne est à présent en position de faiblesse et espère que la Cour de justice donnera son feu vert au traité ACTA en lui soumettant une question juridique très limitée qui recevra certainement une réponse positive.Mais si nous faisons résonner nos voix aujourd'hui, nous pouvons faire en sorte que la Cour examine tous les impacts légaux du traité ACTA et publie un avis qui fera toute la lumière sur cette attaque contre nos droits qu'est ACTA.
No ACTA – Strasbourg. Photo Christophe Kaiser on Flickr, CC-license-BY
Anti-ACTA parties continue to  strengthen their resources. New protests were set for 10 March, and torrentnews gives a list, with this appeal:
La liste n’est pas exhaustive, n’hésitez pas à nous contacter pour la compléter ;)
si certains se sentent l’âme d’un reporter- photographe en herbe, nous recherchons également des personnes pour faire un petit article photo du déroulement de la manif, rien de bien compliqué, comme fait ici pour Nice, Marseille,Bordeaux et Strasbourg.
The list is not exhaustive, do not hesitate to contact us to complete it ;)
If any individuals see themselves as budding photojournalists we are also looking for people to do a small photo story on how the protest unfolds, nothing too complicated, as it happens in Nice, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Strasbourg.
For details on the elements of the debate, see also these linked articles from the Tribune on February 29, and Myeurop, on March 3. On Global Voices, see the laws SOPA/PIPA that set a precedent in the USA, here [en] and here [en]. Since the beginning of the protests, ACTA seems to have lost a lot of political momentum.
The title of this post is inspired by the end of the article “La liberté sur Internet : le filtrage de la discorde” which was published by the Institute of Research and Legal and Information studies and Communication (I.R.E.D.I.C.). It puts into perspective Internet blocking and debates the adoption of ACTA.
The original article in French was published on March 4. For background on the ACTA proposal, more articles can be found here [en].

author: Suzanne Lehn


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Georgia: Bloggers assaulted · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Shota tweets that two bloggers were physically assaulted allegedly by representatives of Tbilisi University's Student Union, itself reportedly controlled by the ruling party of power in the country. News of the alleged attack [GE] was spread on Facebook and in the form of a video report by Net Gazeti on YouTube.


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Honduras: The Effects of Open-Pit Mining · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Poet, activist and blogger Fabricio Estrada blogs [es] about the effects of open-pit mining in the town of San Ignacio, Honduras. His posts includes numerous photos of the town.


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Hong Kong: UNHCR’s Subsidy Cut and Donation Black Hole · Global Voices
Tina Chan

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.
Recently the United Nation Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Hong Kong is being questioned by several non-governmental bodies regarding its reduction in the day-to-day financial aid for refugees in Hong Kong, in spite of the huge amount of donation coming from private donors in Hong Kong.
The latest announcement made by the UNHCR Hong Kong office stated that they are going to cut off 80 percent of the monthly allowance, which currently supports 180 refugees with housing and daily living in Hong Kong. Refugees in Hong Kong were used to receiving HKD 3,000 (equivalent to USD 400) per month once their status had been confirmed, however after the cut, they will receive approximately only HKD 1,500 (USD 200) per month.
Global Survivor 2012 Workshop by Crossroad Foundation, A refugee support group in Hong Kong. (CC-BY 2.0)
On the other hand, UNHCR collected over HKD 20 million in 2010 and HKD 16 million up to 19 September, 2011, in Hong Kong. So, where have these UNHCR millions gone?
Frustrated by the budget cut, refugee organization, Vision First, has issued an open letter to the UNHCR Sub-Office in Hong Kong and questioned UNHCR's policy.
A comment made by Cow Pies on March 5, under the Vision First news thread about the subsidy cut, expresses his anger over the UNHCR:
UNHCR is nothing but a fundraising *Black Hole*!!! There are reasons why their job should be an essential international service, yet they offer no accountability or transparency. Why should we take them for their word when we don’t trust any other international agency (United Nations excluded)? The more one digs for answers, the more questions are unearthed … It’s too convenient to say “We spend the 3.9 billion USD helping refugees worldwide” without backing this up with independent reports. Even the pie charts on their website show 88% “Refugee Programs” but the same charts don’t show salaries, housing allowance, insurance, officer traveling, entertainment, lobbying and other cost they most certainly have. Why should we trust them? They are in-house, unverified, unsupported and lacking basic monthly cost they obviously have. We realize that UNHCR was around before we were born, they will be around after we die and it cannot be changed overnight. Truth is, the way they treat refugees is disgraceful. After collected 27 million HKD in 2011, there is no justification for spending only 648,000 HKD and passing responsibility to HKSAR. They recognized these 180 refugees, but they continuously shirk their responsibility to care for them. Shame on UNHCR!!!
Refugees are not permitted to work in Hong Kong, due to the unsigned 1951 Refugee Convention by the government. Apart from a small group of people who receive financial support from churches or private donors, most of them rely on the UNHCR's monthly allowance.
Rents and the inflation rate in Hong Kong are sky rocketing and it is tough for anyone who has to live in the city on approximately HKD 1,500 a month, which is probably not even enough to pay for a cage room or a 150-square-foot subdivided unit in this expensive city.
Mr Refugee Beggar tells how hard his life is in Hong Kong through the blog of an organization which supports refugees and asylum seekers:
Now, we became the regular beggars! While sleeping we plan where we will go tomorrow for begging. Sometimes going for begging a little money to Mosque, Church, I.S.S. and to others NGOs whose behaviours are insulting and disrespectful and humiliating. They are treating refugees and others like a slave or third-class citizens. I swear you that this is the real punishment when you have no money to pay phone bill, electric bill, buying gas cylinder, hear cutting, photo copy, postal expenses, transport money for going to Mosque, to your lawyer, to attend the court and for many more expenses which are not paying by I.S.S. Some time even we have no two dollars for photo copy and spending day & night in the room as a self confinement for weeks.
Help please left a comment on February 24, to seek for help:
I am having 2 electric bill and water bill I cannot pay. ISS paying just small part. Not everything for me. My church also say no more money. The Final Notice from landlord write she cut electric and water tomorrow. Please help me! UNHCR Hong Kong cut my money from 1500 to 300 dollars. I ask them, but they don’t help me. Today I am very very desperate now. If landlord disconnect I cannot live in my room with no window.
Below is a series of videos produced by the HKSTV, on the story of an asylum-seeker, Mohammed, in Hong Kong. [The voice over is in Mandarin but Mohammed's interview is in English.]
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

author: Tina Chan


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India: Don’t Work at Night and You Won’t Be Raped · Global Voices
Rezwan

In recent days a number of working women have been abducted and raped in the city of Gurgaon, located within 30 kilometres of the Indian capital New Delhi. But all the administration could do in response is to shrug off its responsibility to provide safety to the citizens, by asking all malls, commercial establishments and pub owners not to have women employees working beyond 8pm at night.
Indian netizens have exploded with rage and disbelief while expressing their reactions. Some reactions were sarcastic, some were eye opening, and some explaining the absurdity of this call.
Aamjanata thinks that this directive is unreasonable as it is a requirement for many jobs to stay late:
[..] there are supposed to be police women working night shifts too.
Illustration by Samia Singh. CC BY-NC-ND 2.5
Sandip Roy at the First Post is critic about the ploy of the police to ignore the responsibility:
If the police are going to wash their hands off the entire affair, here is an alternative solution that’s getting some buzz on Twitter: how about a curfew on all the men in Gurgaon after 8 pm?
The Life and Times of an Indian Homemaker questions:
Do you as a citizen find the Gurgaon Administration’s response reassuring?
Would it not have been more reassuring if it was made clear that negligence of duty by the police would not be repeated or excused?
The blogger also asks:
Are jobs, safety and roads after 8 pm, in Gurgaon, reserved for men?
Rambling In The City blames the mindset of the patriarch society:
My first reaction, of course, is how easy it is for society (the authorities are reflecting a larger social attitude) to ask women to behave ‘within limits’. Just like recent incidents in which airline staff asked people with disabilities to deplane, the attitude reeks of a mindset in which women are considered weak, disadvantaged and mostly a problem.
Participants at the Delhi Slutwalk shout slogans and hold banners. Image by Rahul Kumar. Copyright Demotix (31/7/2011).
Twitter users also were busy in expressing their opinions:
@anuragsharma137: 4th such rape incident near sahara mall gurgaon in 45 days. life is normal next day. R they strong people or coward?
@Ankursays: #Gurgaon was once a proud symbol 4 our country devlopment. Now the whole #NCR has become a shame symbol ( #rape destination) 4 our country.
@Nadlakha: Just because a couple of men can't control an erection, women have to sit at home. What an idea! #gurgaon
@saliltripathi: So it seems in Gurgaon rapists have official working hours.
@LadyAparna: RT @Harneetsin: So women in Gurgaon are told to be home by 8pm if they don't wanna be raped. Rapists in India get their own “official” Happy Hours now. Die.
@NameFieldmt: So men are like werewolves or something. They are saints till 8 pm and become barbaric rapists once the clock strikes 8. #Gurgaon
While everyone is talking about the problem and the preventive measure, Ankita Mahajan ponders about a solution:
Government should take austere initiative to blackout such cases. If a person is found as a criminal and arrested in a rape case, then there should be only one punishment for him- sentence to death.

author: Rezwan


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Kyrgyzstan: Local elections in the uneasy southern province · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nathan Hamm writes about the last week’s municipal elections in Osh, where nationalist opposition parties seem to get a significant share in the city council, analyzes the southern city's electorate, and reminds that Kyrgyzstan is often characterized as politically divided between north and south.


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Macedonia: March for Peace Scheduled for Saturday, March 17 · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

The people of multi-ethnic Macedonia are organizing a March for Peace this Saturday as an expression of concern that the recent hate crimes are a harbinger of civil war.
The march is scheduled for Saturday, March 17, 2012, at 2pm in Skopje City Park, and the word is being spread via this Facebook event [mk], Tweetvite event [mk], the Twitter account Zaedno za mir (Together for Peace) and the hashtags #PEACEmk, #ZaednoZaMir, #zzm or #marshnamirot.
The initiative [mk] is organized by activists and around 50 civil society organizations, with the involvement of artists and media personalities from all local ethnic groups who do not want to see a reprise of the 2001 conflict (also known as the “second halftime” [mk] concept). They say:
Together for Peace poster. The symbol of overlapping word balloons also spreads as a Facebook profile pic.
We are:
FOR Peace!
FOR Living together instead of living side by side!
FOR Calming of the tensions!
FOR The good of all people!
FOR Friendship!
FOR Society without violence!
Without prejudice and manipulation!
We welcome all who strive towards the reduction of the tensions and raising of the awareness of living together!
This is an issue of civic and human consciousness.
Let’s plant the seed of love.
We want it and we can do it!
The march comes as a reaction to a series of violent inter-ethnic developments, including slow [mk, sq] and controversial reactions by the authorities to the murder in Gostivar after/during an argument over parking space on February 28, the after-funeral protests and the stoning of select shops, followed by a series of violent incidents involving “spontaneous” “revenge” attacks – beatings of the passersby on the streets of several Macedonian cities and in the public transport in Skopje, leaving dozens of people with serious injuries.
All this was accompanied by biased media coverage, up to the level of open hate speech [mk] in most of the ethnically/linguistically-divided commercial media that remain operational. The period of the deterioration of the security situation in Macedonia started in late January, and was preceded by long-term efforts of nationalist mobilization instigated by the ruling ethnic Macedonian and ethnic Albanian parties within their “own” ethnic groups, and judicial “tradition” of impunity or leniency towards perpetrators of de facto hate crimes. (The concept of hate crime is not present as such within the Macedonian legal system, even though instigating ethnic or racial hatred is a felony.)
March for Peace poster by Nebojsha Galevski – Bane.
Participants of the initiative have been expressing their commitment to live together with their peers from different ethnic groups by providing translations of the call, and also by producing various other works. For instance, graphic designer Nebojsha Gelevski-Bane created the poster above, and theater and film director Srđan Janićijević posted another pro-peace graphic, and a video ad.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Malaysia to Impose Minimum Wage Policy Soon · Global Voices
Jerrenn Lam

Malaysia has reportedly set a minimum wage policy for the first time in the country’s history. Here are some online reactions. Jacques believes that it is a move in the right direction:
Minimum wage increases the standard of living for the poorest and most vulnerable class in society, and will help stimulates consumption by putting more money in the hands of low-income people who spend most if not all of their paychecks. A good thing when you consider that Malaysian exports are expected to suffer this year because of the European debt crisis.
However, not many feel this way. Most people think that the reason for doing this is the upcoming general election, which is expected to occur sometime this year.
Workers in Kuala Lumpur. Photo from Flickr page of AkumAPRIME used under CC License
Hishamah thinks that while the idea has its merits, it has its flaws, too:
If the minimum wage comes in at around the RM800 level, I wouldn’t expect too much of a negative impact, at least not immediately.
But there will be a cascading effect on wages up the scale, which will raise both supply side and demand side inflation over time – if  a basic worker gets an effective 25% increase in base pay, you think his/her supervisor ought to be getting anything less? And that will raise wage costs, particularly in those industries which are sensitive to worker pay, i.e. services. So your teh tarik and roti canai are going to get a bit more expensive pretty soon.
Employers might also start being more wary over hiring as well as cutting benefits in-kind and allowances, so I’d also expect a minor increase in long term unemployment, though at RM800 it won’t be much.
As the minimum wage gets further away from the poverty line, you should expect both these effects – inflation as well as unemployment – to accumulate faster.
iMyn from Cekikdarah thinks that there are some setbacks to the implementation of this policy:
Then there is the usual problem in Malaysia, which is when salaries raise, everyone from the shop owner to the mamak stalls will raise their prices. The worker that just had a pay raise suddenly feels like been played. His pay raise makes no difference.
I think there are a few problems with Malaysia that doesn’t allow us to implement this minimum wage. First of all, we are still dependent on cheap labor. Most of the small businesses, small factories, plantations still rely on cheap labor to make a hefty profit. There are also a lot of foreign workers in Malaysia that can work more for less. For sure the employers of these foreign workers wouldn’t want a minimum wage enforced. Even worse, if the minimum wage is only enforced for locals, they would have stiff competition from cheaper foreign labor.
A solution would be education. The government should make sure every Malaysian has ample education and certification, including vocational certification. Once everyone has certification, the government can then enforce wages according to certification. This is also important in realizing the vision of becoming a high income nation. The nation must have an educated, high skilled workforce and not merely cheap labor because whatever the country, not many can compete with cheap labor from the emerging markets such as Vietnam, Indonesia and now Myanmar, who has just joined the show.
Outspoken former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad have also been quoted saying that this policy will bankrupt Malaysia, which in itself have copped criticism from some bloggers, among them Khoo Kay Peng, a politician:
It is a shame for him to say that the implementation of minimum wage may bankrupt Malaysia. We say that the RM100 billion wasted during his tenure for bailing out failed projects, cronies and through corruption is highly likely to bankrupt Malaysia.
His stupid project such as the crooked bridge at the Johor causeway, Proton, MAS, Perwaja, Bakun, dodgy defense procurement, Cyberjaya, Putrajaya, F1 race and others had wasted billions of federal coffers. He had preferred to waste financial resources on wasteful and mediocre projects and allowed people of resource rich states such as Trengganu, Sabah and Sarawak to remain poor and destitute.
On Twitter, many were retweeting news articles on the issue, and some voiced their opinions through the social networking site as well:
@gowriey: Minimum wage gap? Malaysia needs minimum work ethic gap and minimum education standards gap.

author: Jerrenn Lam


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Rising Chinese Investments in Cambodia · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Alex Watts probes the impact of rising Chinese investments in Cambodia. Some local residents are worried over the sale of huge tracts of lands to Chinese investors.

author: Mong Palatino


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Senegal: Discovering Exotic Local Produce · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Khady discovers exotic local produce in Senegal: “Recently I challenged myself to start discovering some of the more exotic local produce available on the vendors’ stands in Senegal. I started this week. Well, kind of. I ventured beyond my norm, but the fruit that appeared in my kitchen came from friend, not a vendor. Anyway…Meet the baobab fruit, also known as monkey bread or pain de singe.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Trinidad & Tobago: Constitutional Reform  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Of “the Constitutional Reform Series being piloted by the Congress of the People”, Plain Talk says: “The [issue] that sticks in most people's craw is the inability of the people to fire non-performing or abusive public officials, especially members of Parliament and the Prime Minister.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Poverty of Spirit · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As another gang leader is killed, B.C. Pires says: “The poverty he grew up in – poverty of education, opportunity, example, love, poverty of everything except prejudice and licks – prepared him fully for the final deprivation: 50 more years of life.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: The Gender Card (and other political missteps) · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Eternal Pantomime is upset that the Prime Minister has played the gender card in her attempt to justify the state paying for travel expenses for her sister: “If you take what is fundamentally an issue of misuse of public funds and turn it into a plea for sympathy because of your gender makes you nasty and reprehensible!”


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Video: Plural+ 2012 Contest Call for Youth Entries · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Three winners between the ages of 9 and 25 will get to travel to New York City to present their work on Migration, Social Integration and Diversity in the 2012 Plural+ Contest organized by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and the International Organization for Migration.
Diversity mural in Washington DC, picture by Daniel Lobo CCBY
Youth can participate by sending in videos that are no more than 5 minutes in length that focus on issues faced by youth that relate to Diversity, Social Integration and Migration no later than July 1st 2012.
The winners will have the opportunity to visit New York City for the Awards ceremony in December 2012. Following is the promotional video for the contest.
You can read about last year's winners on this post. This next video shows some footage from the 2011 Awards Ceremony and explains what Plural+ is all about:
Rules and Regulations as well as the entry forms are available on the contest's page.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra