text:
Anti-fascist movements are re-emerging in Brazil to counter Bolsonaro · Global Voices
Giovana Fleck

Anti-fascist demonstration in Porto Alegre. On the sign: “Democracy is not negotiable. Demilitarization of the government now!” Photo by Maia Rubinm via Benedictas Fotocoletivo (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Every time Leandro Bergamin goes to a demonstration, he makes sure to not leave home without a mask and hand sanitizer. He usually takes the subway and a bus but tries to stay as far from other people as possible. “The pandemic is urgent, but it is also urgent that we fight for our basic rights”, he told Global Voices via a WhatsApp call.
Bergamin joined one of the most famous anti-fascist organizations in São Paulo: the Corinthians Democracy Collective, inspired by fans from the largest sports club in Brazil.
Football fan groups in Brazil, like the country's other self-identified anti-fascist movements, have a history of fighting for human rights and democracy, but in 2020 they emerged as a counter-offensive to the growing pro-Bolsonaro demonstrations. As for the links between anti-fascism and football, Bergamin explains that:
Football has always had the issue of class struggle and regionalism. Football depends on politics to exist and politics depend on football.
May 31 saw one of 2020's largest anti-fascist demonstrations in São Paulo. According to Bergamin, protestors were profoundly dissatisfied “with the frivolous way the country is being conducted” during the pandemic. Demonstrators criticized the Bolsonaro government's authoritarian turn.
President Jair Bolsonaro showed authoritarian features since he launched his political career 30 years ago. His rise to the presidency has often been credited to his ability to capitalize on collective and individual resentments, which boosted support to call on strong military presence throughout the country. Bolsonaro helped fuel gun ownership, encouraged police killings and supported the Amazonian fires to free space for the agroindustry.
Since COVID-19 hit Brazil, he has been downplaying the pandemic and participated in protests to shut down the Supreme Court. Even after testing positive for COVID-19, he still made public appearances without any protective gear. He is accused of using the pandemic to dismantle environmental regulations, for participating in corruption schemes, and for enabling a genocide against indigenous peoples. He has verbally attacked the press and publicly endorsed violent practices against the opposition.
A protester in Porto Alegre, on June 14th, holds a sign saying: “For a world with more Marielles Francos [and] Angelas Davis [and} less Hitlers [and] Bolsonaros. Photo by Maia Rubinm via Benedictas Fotocoletivo (CC BY-NC 2.0)
For Ângela Meirelles de Oliveira, a historian who dedicated her career to studying Brazilian anti-fascism, the anti-fascist movement in the football world is an example of how anti-fascist groups are much more heterogeneous than before. A few structured organizations are supported by a vast, and diversified, support base which includes blue-collar and white-collar workers, different social classes, and different professions.
Anti-fascist groups emerged in Latin America in the 1930s, a decade after their European counterparts, to fight against fascist movements in the region, “which were many”, Oliveira told Global Voices in an email. There was, for example, the Integralist movement in Brazil and the Argentine Civic Legion. They also counteracted growing Nazism in communities of German origin in Latin America.
Both then and now, critics of anti-fascism in Brazil deny that fascism ever existed in the country and therefore perceive anti-fascists as a “meaningless militancy,” said Oliveira. She continues:
On the one hand, [there are] those who saw in sympathizers of anti-fascism only puppets of organized militancy, on the other, [saw them as] a group that would operate for a meaningless cause, since [they believed] fascism never existed in Brazil.
In 2020, the action is less organized, with little hierarchy, and more variety in their ranks. “They also have a very expanded agenda against oppression, given the motions against racism, homophobia, misogyny, and xenophobia,” adds Oliveira.
Today, anti-fascism is also going online. In May, Brazilians who did not take to the streets because of COVID-19 concerns shared the anti-fascist flag on social media. In May, June, and July, this flag — symbolizing anarchism, communism, and socialism — appeared on people's profile pictures on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Users would also complement the flag with more personal identifiers such as “journalist”, “artist”, “feminist”, or “father”, for example.
A post shared by Seremos Resistência! (@seremosresistencia)
Today, as before, anti-fascists and any person accused of fitting this label are under pressure in Brazil. In June, 900 pages with lists containing peoples’ personal data circulated on the internet. The so-called “anti-fascist files” doxxed hundreds of people accusing them of belonging to anti-fascist groups. The files were supposedly taken to the police to counter “terrorist activities”.
According to Oliveira, “The more oppressive a government is, the more they will see opposition as criminal”.
On July 24, the Brazilian news organization UOL had access to documents from the Ministry of Justice which compiled new alleged anti-fascist profiles. In total, there are 579 officials from the government identified as members of the “anti-fascist movement” and three university professors. The Ministry informed that the operation is legitimate and aims to support decisions focusing on “prevention, neutralization, and repression of criminal acts of any nature that violate public order, the safety of people and property”.
The most common argument against anti-fascist movements is about looting or destroying private property. Oliveira responds to this saying that antifas (the common shorthand name for anti-fascists in Brazil)question the justification of protecting private property when the state enforces violence on poor people of color. “In my opinion, the practice and action of [a]ntifas are fundamental to put such State actions in question”, says the researcher.
Bergamin adds that the anti-fascists organizations do not defend violent demonstrations and he says he believes that they have to be peaceful. “But I do not judge because, for many, violence is a way of survival in Brazil”, he says.
Bergamin says that he sees himself protesting more in the near future. “I believe the demonstrations will multiply and amplify,” he says.


text:
It’s been 30 years since the attempted coup in Trinidad & Tobago · Global Voices
Flora Thomas

A section of the Red House, which was the seat of parliament of Trinidad and Tobago in 1990, when a group of insurgents stormed the building as part of an an attempted coup d'etat. Photo by (ha)SanMan_ish on Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0.
Thirty years ago, on July 27, 1990, heavily armed members of the radical Islamist group the Jamaat al Muslimeen stormed Trinidad and Tobago's parliament and attempted to overthrow the country's democratically elected government.
The group held then prime minister A.N.R. Robinson and other government ministers hostage over the next six days.
It also simultaneously infiltrated police headquarters in the capital, Port of Spain, as well as the country's state-owned television station, where its leader, Yasin Abu Bakr, took control of that evening's news broadcast to announce that the government had been overthrown, the prime minister and members of the Cabinet placed under arrest, and the “revolutionary forces” had been “commanded to control the streets”.
During the siege, 24 people lost their lives, and many more were injured. The country was placed under a state of emergency and by the end of the insurrection, much of the capital had been destroyed. The police headquarters had been bombed and engulfed by fire, and many businesses had been looted and damaged.
The Jamaat finally agreed to surrender, in exchange for an amnesty agreement that resulted in the group never being prosecuted.
For an energy-based small island economy just struggling to emerge from years of declining petroleum production and plummeting oil prices, it was a huge fiscal blow. The government of the day, the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), paid dearly. Although the NAR survived the coup—in the sense that it emerged from it still in control of the country—the party lost the general elections the following year, securing only two of 41 parliamentary seats.
On September 7, 2010, more than 20 years after the insurrection, a Commission of Inquiry was launched. Yasin Abu Bakr initially said he welcomed the opportunity to tell the Jamaat's side of the story, but then became uncooperative and failed to appear before the committee.
A report was nevertheless produced, with the understanding that the absence of the chief witness compromised its comprehensiveness. The report was laid in parliament in 2014, but it is unclear if or to what degree the recommendations put forward by the commission, including financial compensation for the hostages and the families of those killed, were ever implemented.
On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the coup attempt, the Jamaat Al Muslimeen's Facebook page posted an update in which Bakr clarified statements that he had made ten days prior that had been largely, if incorrectly, interpreted as a public apology for the events of 1990:
I humbly expressed my remourse [sic] for those who lost loved ones during the 1990 Revolution. I do not and did not apologize for risking my life and the lives of 113 others in order to remove the unpopular, oppressive, NAR Government which did many wrongs […]
I did not apologize because I did nothing wrong. There is nothing to apologize for.
The Facebook update alleged that “approximately 18 out of the 24 people who died during the coup were killed while looting”, and that it was “never established who shot those individuals [in parliament].”
It reiterated the fact that “the Privy council upheld our Amnesty and released us from prison,” and that the Jamaat Al Muslimeen organisation had been consistently demonised, including by the media's narrative of the attempted coup.
A subsequent Facebook update, which accused two successive governments of “[having] help from the Jamaat Al Muslimeen” to win elections, asked:
Who did we terrorize in 1990? We Terrorized the terrorist politicians who were guilty of crimes including the cold calculated Murder of police officer Bernadette James! She accused top officials of drug dealing and was killed in ‘suspicious circumstances.’
July 27 1990 was not terror for the People it was justice against the politicians!
Former parliamentarian and then Minister of Finance Selby Wilson, who was one of the hostages, described the experience as hellish. The Jamaat al Muslimeen has long held that the unsolved killing of police constable Bernadette James in 1987 was not a training mission gone awry, but a hit in retaliation for her having witnessed NAR government officials engaging in illicit activities.
Each year, July 27 brings back strong memories for those impacted by the coup attempt, many of whom shared their thoughts on social media.
The National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago, which promotes and facilitates citizens’ access to their heritage, compiled a blog post of different “voices from 1990.” The testimonies included the wife of a hostage who believes her husband is still affected by the experience and a working mother who said: “I will never forget what I saw. It was like I was in a war zone in the Middle East.”
Facebook user Sanjiv Parasram mused:
The then PM's order to ‘attack with full force’ remains, to me, arguably the bravest thing ever uttered by a leader in our country
The fact that an amnesty was the result is still shocking insult to that order and a gross miscarriage of justice
May all who lost their lives and their lives ones find peace
Trinidad and Tobago's president, Paula-Mae Weekes, made a point of remembering the victims on the 30th anniversary of the insurrection. The Office of the President flew flags bearing their names and hailing them as heroes, explaining the decision in an official statement:
Given that an unequivocal apology may never be obtained, we citizens must be the drivers of effecting our own reconciliation. […]
The Commission’s Report included a recommendation for the recognition of July 27 as a day of national significance. It is disappointing to note that there is still no official commemoration of the attempted coup d’état. I suspect that it is this very lack of attention that has us in the shameful position of not being able to name all 24 of our citizens acknowledged to have died as a result of the insurrection.
It is our duty to honour and keep alive the memories of those known to have perished […] Say their names aloud so that they are memorialised.
Photographer Mark Lyndersasy, who was the picture editor at the Trinidad Guardian newspaper at the time, shared his insight in an interview with the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday:
I don't believe the country has been the same since then. And the idea that you can shoot somebody down in the street and get away with it, in my own heartfelt estimation, I think took root then. […]
Up until that moment, there was the sense that the police were in charge. And then after that, it was very clear that it was possible for the police to not be in charge […] But it's a social engagement that we're still very much flirting with. We're not accepting the fact that there are people who live in this country who live a very different life from the people who are even considered marginally privileged, and that's something I think we still have to come to terms with.
The Bocas Lit Fest also hosted an online discussion called “Remembering 1990.” Panellists included authors of books about the coup, journalists, a member of the Commission Inquiry, and artist Muhammad Muwakil, whose father had been one of the revolutionaries.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Flora Thomas


text:
As COVID-19 infections surge, Japan launches travel subsidy campaign · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Pontocho, Kyoto, July 2019. Pontocho is popular with tourists, and Japan's new Go To campaign is encouraging people to visit places like this one. Photo by Nevin Thompson.
Mixed messages from Tokyo metropolitan government, which has asked people to limit non-essential trips, versus the central government's 1.68 trillion yen (15 billion USD) “Go To Travel” campaign, which aims to boost internal tourism, have placed Japan in a “double bind” over the virus.
On Wednesday, July 22, Tokyo governor Koike Yuriko asked residents of the capital to “act as if a second wave (of COVID-19) is already here.” With a population of 15 million, Tokyo remains the epicenter of the latest increase in COVID-19 cases in Japan. The metropolitan region has identified at least 5,000 cases of COVID-19 so in July, or about 45 percent of all infections since the start of the pandemic.
During the week of July 20, Tokyo experienced its daily highest rates of confirmed coronavirus cases ever, with the number of infections exceeded 200 for six days in a row in Tokyo. There are fears there could be an explosion of COVID-19 in Tokyo by August.
Other major cities in Japan, including Osaka and Fukuoka, also experienced a rising number of COVID-19 cases in July, while the isolated island community of Sado saw its first case of the disease. Yoron, a small island community in Japan's far west that is popular with tourists has seen 34 infections so far, with 5 in the past week.
Despite a daily rising number of COVID-19 cases, by the end of the week and the start of a four-day long weekend, on July 24, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, ignoring government policy, had still refused to declare a state of emergency, stating the situation is still “under control.” Japan had declared a nationwide state of emergency once before in April and May that did manage to reduce the number of daily infections.
On the first day of a 4-day weekend for which the government has been forking out much-opposed traveling coupons to boost inter-prefectural travel, Tokyo records its worst ever number of new infections.
Many other prefectures broke records yesterday. Commonly sense ? https://t.co/qIDESp8E30
— Lana Sinapayen (@sina_lana) July 23, 2020
“BREAKING” Tokyo Metropolitan area marks its first day with more than 300 new cases of COVID-19 (from July 22)
Instead, the Abe Shinzo government continued with its plans to launch its “Go To Japan” campaign on Thursday, July 22, and the start of the four-day long weekend. The “Go To Japan” campaign provides travelers with a variety of subsidies covering travel and accommodation of up to 20,000 yen (200 USD) per person per night for holidaymakers in 40 prefectures across Japan.
Due to its higher number of infections since the start of the pandemic, Tokyo is excluded as a tourism destination. However, this does not stop tourists from Tokyo from traveling all over Japan, including to Iwate Prefecture, which has experienced no cases of COVID-19 at all.
Many GoTo tourists flocking to Iwate. “They haven’t had any cases so it seemed the safest place to visit”【GoTo】 観光客が感染者ゼロの岩手に集結 「岩手は安全なイメージ」 https://t.co/bpSk7VDBpG
— Hikosaemon (@hikosaemon) July 24, 2020
(Translation of article caption) “Go To Japan Campaign” Travels descend on Iwate Prefecture, which has had zero cases of COVID-19 so far.
Public reaction has been mixed. A July 24 poll suggested that most Japanese people thought that a future state of emergency is only necessary certain regions where COVID-19 is a serious problem, rather than the whole country. Other polls have demonstrated strong opposition to the COVID-19 plan.
There are also emerging reports of corruption, including kickbacks to politicians who supported the 1.68 trillion yen “Go To Japan” campaign. Management of the plan has been outsourced to a major travel agency, rather than being delivered in-house by the government.
Meanwhile, there is some puzzlement over how the “GoTo Travel” slogan was chosen:
Asahi report on how the government's campaign “Go To Travel” slogan has English speakers wincing. Spokesman says it was chosen because “Go”, “To”, and “Travel” are all easily understood words in Japan. https://t.co/eTwtxmEdnK
— Mulboyne (@Mulboyne) July 23, 2020
(Translation of article caption) Is “Go To Travel” grammatically incorrect (in English)? “Well, these are English words that most Japanese people know.”

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
Congolese journalist forced into exile for documentary on violent evictions · Global Voices
Esdras Tsongo

Bukavu, center city, DR Congo, September 6, 2017. Photo by EMMANRMS via Wikimedia CC BY SA 4.0.
This article is part of UPROAR, a Small Media initiative that is urging governments to address digital rights challenges at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
Congolese journalist Gaël Mpoyo is facing death threats for a 2018 documentary he directed about the forced evictions of villagers living on land that allegedly belongs to former president Joseph Kabila in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mpoyo, an investigative journalist with over 13 years of experience, works as a correspondent for Africa News, and before the threats, he was based in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, eastern DR Congo.
The filmmaker Gaël Mpoyo, courtesy of  Gaêl Mpoyo.
The journalist has been fearing for his life and the safety of his family since July 2018, when his documentary screened for the first time at a Bukavu cinema and published on YouTube.
The film entitled: “Mbobero: Might is Always Right,” was filmed in Mbobero, on the outskirts of Bukavu.
Given the general climate of insecurity, particularly in South Kivu province, where several journalists have been murdered under unclear circumstances, Mpoyo and his family have been forced to live in exile.
In the 27-minute film, he interviewed the inhabitants of Mbobero, who have been evicted with extreme violence — and their houses demolished — from Kabila’s alleged plot. Approximately 3,000 residents were violently forced to evacuate the land, according to one anonymous witness that spoke with Global Voices.
The documentary exposes the irregularities and shenanigans surrounding this case, which, according to the journalist, has become a real affair of state in the eyes of the actors involved.
Mpoyo talked to Global Voices about the threats he received and how they affected his work and his life, since that first Bukavu screening on July 6, 2018.
He says that since then, he and his family have been forced to live in hiding. He told Global Voices that in the documentary, he sought to tell the story of the victims. “I had to show the world what really happened in that part of the country with real evidence.”
“In Bukavu, after broadcasting the video in the cinema, some participants cried. They saw that it was inhumane [how] the Congolese population was living in the plot that [was attempted to be] taken by former president Joseph Kabila,” he said.
Kabila managed to reclaim all the land where former Mborero residents once lived.
As soon as the documentary was made available online, the journalist began receiving threats. The film’s editor,  Franck Zongwe, and two human rights activists from the New Civil Society Dynamic in DR Congo, — the first to raise the alarm about the evictions —  were also threatened.
Mpoyo told Global Voices that he received a threatening phone call from the then-governor of South Kivu Province, Claude Nyamugabo, who insisted that he “should not expose himself to danger” by broadcasting his documentary film which, according to Nyamugabo’s understanding, would further upset Kabila.
“I was demoralized when I got the call from the provincial governor, it was really discouraging for me,” he said.
During the shooting of the documentary, Mpoyo asked local authorities to give their points of view in the documentary, but they refused and were afraid to speak on the subject, he told Global Voices.
Several South Kivu personalities were invited to the opening screening, but Mpoyo decided to leave the city even before the launch for his own safety because he received threats before the film screened as well. In hiding, he continued to receive threats.
Mpoyo directly told Global Voices that an unidentified person sent him the following threatening message on July 11, 2018:
Little one, stop playing with fire. You took advantage of our silence by posting your video on YouTube. Stop attacking Rais [‘president’ in Swahili] Joseph Kabila.  We'll give you 24 hours to remove this YouTube item if you need to live.  We know where you are hiding and we are following closely all your movements.
The documentary, however, remained online and to date has received 21,000 views on YouTube.
“The motivation that had helped me to shoot the documentary also helped me not to erase the documentary online. It took real courage,” said Mpoyo.
“It took courage to do it because it was a documentary that was considered against a president.  Many journalists were afraid to produce on this subject. Threats were waiting for me. “
His neighbors told him that in 2018, they continually spotted suspicious people lingering around his residence nearly every day at about 5 a.m. and in the evening at about 9 p.m.
“All my movements were watched and secured by strangers.  These same agents knew where I was hiding. My family was traumatized,’’ he said.
The Congolese organization Journalists in Danger (JED) considered the threats against the filmmaker as ‘’extremely serious.”
In response to these threats, international and African press freedom organizations, including Reporters Without Borders (RSF), called on Congolese authorities to protect the filmmakers and respect press freedom. But the calls went unheeded and Mpoyo still received hate messages.
Mpoyo fled DR Congo discreetly in 2018 to Uganda, with the help of the human rights office of the United Nations Mission in Congo and the Dutch Embassy.
In 2019, the country elected a new president, Félix Tshisekedi. After his inauguration, Tshisekedi called on all those who had left DR Congo because of threats to return, promising them safety.
As a displaced person in Uganda, it was not easy for Mpoyo and his family, so, he decided to take up the new president’s invitation and return to DR Congo, and started a new life in the neighboring province of North Kivu.
Four months later, he began to receive threatening phone calls and messages again. The president’s promise was not kept.
Mpoyo told Global Voices that even his children were threatened while on their way to school. Soon after his return home, he was forced to leave again for another foreign country and declined to specify his whereabouts due to safety concerns.
The threats and exile have been hard on the journalist and his family. Mpoyo explained:
Life in exile is not easy. … I don't have the means to do my work properly. Being far from my country cripples my productions. Even to survive, sometimes it's complicated.  It's better than living at home.  I'd like to go back to the Congo, but I don't know when the situation will be resolved.’
He ended the interview by advocating for the safety of journalists in DR Congo, and called on authorities to get involved so that the nation respects the work of ethical investigative journalism and press freedom becomes a reality in the country.

author: Esdras Tsongo


text:
Former prime minister of Barbados, Owen Arthur, dies · Global Voices
Stacey Phillips

Then prime minister of Barbados, Owen Arthur (centre), chairs the plenary meeting on “The challenge of adaptation – from vulnerability to resilience”, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, on September 24, 2007. Photo by United Nations Photo on Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
The former prime minister of Barbados, Owen Seymour Arthur, passed away on July 27, 2020, at the age of 70.
He was described by fellow Caribbean leaders as “an ardent regionalist” who was “passionate about his country.” Barbados declared three days of mourning in his honour.
Arthur will be remembered as a leader whose knowledge of economics manifested in his uncanny ability to gauge the fiscal realities of a small island developing state like Barbados, and who distinguished himself politically, socially, and economically as both a sage and a charismatic presence.
He led the Barbados Labour Party as the country’s fifth prime minister from 1994 to 2008, serving in the House of Representatives for the parish of St. Peter, where he was raised.
Arthur did his secondary education at the prestigious Harrison College, and went on to study economics and History at The University of the West Indies’ (UWI) Cave Hill campus in Barbados. He subsequently gained his Master’s Degree in Economics at The UWI campus in Mona, Jamaica.
Arthur’s emphatic and down to earth style of leadership seemed to come at the perfect time for Barbados. His efforts to revive the country's foundering economy proved successful: during his tenure, he slashed Barbados’ unemployment rate in half, from over 20 per cent to approximately nine per cent between 1994 and 2000. Mention was often made of his brilliance and how this coexisted with a lack of pretence and easy approachability.
He also gained significant international recognition as the first Caribbean leader to make an official visit as the guest of honour at the 90th Session of the International Labour Conference in 2002. At the event, Arthur delivered a searing indictment of the linkage of labour standards and trade, and challenged the International Labour Office (ILO) to prioritise the enforcement of labour standards in both developed and developing countries.
As tributes poured in upon the news of his death, the multifaceted nature of Owen Arthur's statesmanship became clear.
Over the years, he had been appointed to numerous commissions and consultancies, including the Commonwealth Observer Mission to Guyana’s general and regional elections. He also served as chairman of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on Small States and co-chair of the global forum to focus on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Initiative on Harmful Tax Competition.
Barbados’ sitting prime minister, Mia Mottley, lauded Arthur’s tireless work ethic, noting that he was “was never overwhelmed by the task at hand” and praising his economic reforms as “his greatest domestic legacy”.
Just as significant was Arthur’s proposal during his 2003 election campaign to hold a national referendum to put forward revisions to Barbados’ Constitution, a move geared towards replacing the British monarch with a president as head of state.
Owen Arthur’s unique perspicacity and infinite warmth had a personal impact on many. On Facebook, his friend Tony Hoyos reminisced:
I was always in awe of how brilliant my old school chum had become, with not only a profound grasp of macroeconomics, particularly as applied to our developing nation, but also by his common touch and genuine caring for every Barbadian. Many of us will likely remember unexpectedly meeting Owen at a supermarket pushing his own cart.
Marsha Caddle, who had worked with Owen “on trying to solve the perennial debt issue in Barbados and the region”, said:
There is no economist working today in this region of the world who has not drawn on the wisdom, rigour and intellectual fearlessness of the Rt. Hon. Owen Seymour Arthur. And there is no Caribbean regionalist who does not feel gratitude for the integration vision that he brought to life, and on which we can now build.
Indeed, Owen Arthur helped forge the foundations for renewed regional integration, an invaluable contribution to the Caribbean community. With his passing, Barbados and the wider region, has lost a stalwart symbol of patriotism and Caribbean pride.
He is survived by his wife Julie, and two daughters.

author: Stacey Phillips


text:
Chinese nationalists call for retaliation measures against US diplomacy · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Detachment ritual inside the U.S consulate in Chengdu. Screenshot from the U.S China Embassy's video.
The United States’ abrupt decision to shut down the Chinese consulate in Houston on July 22 shocked China, and in a tit-for-tat expected measure, Beijing announced the closure of the US consulate in Chengdu in Western China two days later.
Chinese nationalists were disappointed with the choice of Chengdu. According to online polls conducted by Global Times and Guancha, news sites affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), approximately 70 percent of those who replied would have favored the closure of the US consulate in Hong Kong, and indicate the consulate in Guangzhou as their second most popular choice.
On July 24, after a pro-Beijing group protested outside the US consulate in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Commercial Daily, a pro-Beijing media outlet, tweeted:
#美國 政府單方面宣佈關閉休斯頓中國總領事館，惹起香港市民憤怒，今日，有市民自發組織的「反美霸權大聯盟」，昨日前往美國駐港澳總領事館，高叫關閉美國領事館等口號，他們把臭雞蛋掟向美國總統特朗普及國務卿篷佩奧的畫像，又響起空襲警報聲，要求美領滾出中國香港領土。（記者萬家成 馮瀚文/攝） pic.twitter.com/gOYwHxoFwq
— 香港商報 (@HKCD_COM) July 25, 2020
The US government announced the closure of the Chinese Consulate in Houston, a decision that has ignited Hong Kong people’s anger. Today, some Hongkongers self-organized an “anti-US hegemony alliance” and rallied in front of the US consulates in Macau and Hong Kong chanting slogans to call for its shutdown. They threw eggs at the portrait of US president Donald Trump and State Secretary Mike Pompeo. They turned on a “air attack” siren calling for the US to get out of Hong Kong.
At the same time, the CCP-affiliated Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions launched an online petition to urge for the closure of the United States’ Hong Kong and Macau consulates. The statement said:
無理要求駐美侯斯頓總領事館關閉，是美方干預中國事務和損害中美關係的新一輪進擊。我國在政策對等的原則下，實施反制措施，以維護國家主權和國家尊嚴，實屬合情合理之舉。
工聯會認為應停止美國駐港澳總領事館運作，關閉煽動本地政治不穩的基地，讓香港恢復安寧。
The unreasonable demand to close the Chinese Consulate in Houston is a new wave of assault launched by the US to interfere with China’s domestic affairs and to harm the US-China relation. It is reasonable for our country to adopt counter measures of equal range to protect our country’s sovereignty and dignity.
The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions calls for the US consulates in Macau and Hong Kong to have their operations suspended, as they serve as bases for political instability — in order to restore peace in Hong Kong.
In mainland China, the state-owned Chinese Central Television (CCTV) set up live cameras outside the Chengdu Consulate. Police and a fire engine were also standing by, ready to react to a much anticipated “document burning scene,” as many online patriots were expecting to see something similar to what had happened in the Chinese Consulate in Houston.
But there was no such scene. Instead, one netizen suggested to turn the building into a hot pot restaurant — an idea that was widely supported with more than 240,000 thumbs-up signs on the comment thread of the CCTV live cast.
Twitter user Alston Kwan depicted the CCTV live cast scene and online spectacle on Twitter:
中国外交部24日上午通知美方关闭美驻成都总领事馆后，央视在美国驻成都总领事馆正门等位置，架起多部摄影机进行现场直播，截至下午3时，直播吸引超过2000多万人观看。
中国网友们纷纷留言评论：“干得漂亮！”“太刚了！”“旺铺转让，火锅店的名字我都想好了！”“有5G就是任性，啥都可以直播！”等。 pic.twitter.com/QJTIBf8rEN
— 關堯 · Alston Kwan (@Alston_Kwan) July 24, 2020
Soon after the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry notified the US on its decision to close the Chengdu Consulate on July 24, CCTV set up multiple cameras outside the US Consulate in Chengdu. Its live-cast attracted more than 20 million views by 3pm. In the comment thread, Chinese netizens left comment such as “this is a great move!” “Such a hardcore scene!”, “The shop is for sale, I have figured out the name of the new hot pot restaurant!”, “5G is so powerful and we can live-cast anything that we want!”
On the scene, impatient onlookers decided to light firecrackers to create smoke instead, as Netizen @M8MI8 reported on Twitter:
有成都朋友在美国驻成都总领馆点了一挂鞭炮庆祝。。。。 pic.twitter.com/r78oIK3AgF
— 迷8 M8? (@M8MI8) July 24, 2020
Fellow from Chengdu lighted firecrackers outside the US consulate to celebrate its shut down.
In sharp contrast with the forced eviction scene in Houston after a 72-hour shutdown notice, the diplomats left the Chengdu consulate on July 27 with a detachment ritual, as shown in a video posted by the US-China Embassy Twitter account:
今天，我们带着对我们所做工作的骄傲，以及中国西南地区人民留在我们记忆中的友谊，开启新的工作。 pic.twitter.com/5DxaRgZZVN
— 美国驻华使领馆 US MissionCN (@USA_China_Talk) July 27, 2020
Today, with pride in our work and memories of friendship from people in the southwestern region of China, we will begin our work in a new position.
While the Chinese government has attempted to de-escalate the tension by letting go a Chinese scientist with a military background who allegedly had been hiding inside the Chinese consulate in San Francisco upon an FBI investigation, nationalist circles in China are now talking about a nuke race on Weibo, the Chinese social media platform.
Hu Xijin, the chief editor of Global Times suggested in his Weibo post on July 26 that China needs to build more nuclear missiles:
中国拥有更强大的核武库是把美国的嚣张态度压制在一条安全线之下的最关键砝码，别的都不太管用。
中国当然不会放弃与美协商解决各种问题的努力，我们重视中美关系的态度不会变。但问题是不取决于我们，随着美方步步紧逼，是不能排除中美在南海、台海擦枪走火的可能性的。到时候将形成中美的意志比拼，足够的核武器是中方意志不可缺少的支柱。
The key to constraint the arrogant attitude within the security framework is to strengthen the power of Chinese nuclear missiles. Other methods are not effective.
Of course, China will not give up on negotiations with the US to solve problems, we are consistent in our attitude on the China-US diplomatic relations. But we are not the trouble maker, the US has kept charging and we can’t exclude the possibility that something may trigger a war between the two countries in the South China Sea or around the Taiwan strait. The situation would quickly turn into a contest of will power between two countries, and nuclear power would then be the pillar to establish the will of China.
Hu's comment has attracted a large number of positive reactions and thumbs-up on Weibo.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
COVID-19 has accelerated digitalization but will Tunisia log on? · Global Voices
Saoussen Ben Cheikh

Tunis city hall. Photo from Wikipedia in the public domain.
Seen from afar, Tunisia has all the favorable conditions for digitalization, including effective and affordable internet access and a largely young and highly connected population.  Yet, the nation still lags behind in the digitalization of all its services, both public and private, due to decades of corruption and government inaction.
When COVID-19 hit Tunisia in March 2020, the government enforced a strict lockdown, exposing a fragile, largely traditional economy. But a flurry of innovations mushroomed, ranging from telemedicine and telework to online entertainment and education. Staff began to work remotely and the government started to use robotic and digital technology.
In this way, COVID-19 accelerated digitalization in Tunisia like no previous government could achieve, gaining more digital momentum in a single month than it had in prior decades.
For Karim Koundi, chairman of the Joint Public-Private-Civil Society Committee for digitalization, the pandemic crisis led to the equivalent of a “fall of a Berlin Wall” moment between the administration and the Tunisian digital industry.
Can the COVID-19 pandemic continue to act as a catalyst to accelerate its online economy and services?
Digitalization, the process of collecting, storing and sharing information online, allows for more transparency and evidence-based policies essential for good governance.
As former Prime Minister Youssef Chahed noted in 2019: “Digitalization is the best weapon to fight corruption,” echoing international consensus.
In 2018, the government launched the National Strategic Council for the Digital Economy (CNCEM) with an ambitious “Digital Tunisia 2018” framework to create a conducive digital ecosystem. With an overall allocated budget of $867 million United States dollars, the digitalization plan envisioned the creation of over 100,000 jobs. But plans have been slow to implement or totally delayed. “Digital Tunisia 2018” became “Digital Tunisia 2020” before being once again postponed to 2025.
Mohamed Fadhel Kraiem, Tunisian minister of Technology, Communication and Digital Transformation, admitted in May during the lockdown that “almost half of the projects in the ‘Digital Tunisia 2020’ strategic plan have not yet seen the light of day,” and shifted the program to a new “Digital Tunisia 2025.”
Tunisia was among the first to promote technology in the region and the aim to digitalize the nation is nothing new. Its digitalization plans date back to 1999, when a national e-commerce commission was created to oversee the development of the sector.
In 2005, Tunisia hosted the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) that aimed to bridge the global digital divide separating rich and poor countries. It resulted in the adoption of pioneering bills with the Tunis Commitment, the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society and the creation of the Internet Governance Forum.
But these grand announcements were not followed by concrete actions and plans took years to materialize. In 2012, a public-private task force was formed to revitalize the sector and draft a digitalization roadmap, but these plans continue to stall, despite Tunisia’s modern fiber-optics infrastructure.
This delayed digitalization is symptomatic of a  political stalemate in Tunisia, where authorities pioneer the adoption of forward-thinking legislation but struggle with their implementation. Political decisions made at the top often remain invisible on the ground, fostering frustration and discontent.
In 2011, youth took to the streets in protests that demanded calls for immediate, structural reforms, but these calls were not heard and after almost a decade, the situation remains unchanged for many and for some — even worse.
“Since the revolution, we have freedom but not dignity,” said Sofiene Jbeli, a young unemployed Tunisian IT engineer in a le Point article.
Youth unemployment has risen to 36 percent and corruption is also on the rise. The economy is still fueled by labor-intensive jobs like farming or manufacturing, alongside a bloated government bureaucracy that, in 2018, employed nearly 800,000, accounting for 46 percent of the national budget.
“Tunisia has been applauded for its peaceful transition and not falling into civil war like its neighbors in the region,” said Mohamed Khalifa, a retired Tunisian engineer who spoke to Global Voices:
The dark side of the acclaimed consensus politics, between secular and Islamist, is that it has merely postponed rather than resolved deep-rooted issues. Donors’ money has flooded the push for institutional reforms that failed to materialize in the life of the population. It has rewarded the status-quo. Since then we are stagnating.
Tunisia pays a high price for its stagnation. Studies have estimated that Tunisia’s complex bureaucracy and heavy regulation have cost firms about 13 percent in revenues and incentivized corruption.
“Unfortunately, today there is strong resistance to digital change and reforms in general, emanating from several circles in the administration, the business world, state institutions et cetera,” said Amine ben Gamra, a Tunisian chartered accountant in Tunisie Numerique. “The objective being to keep their positions, to enjoy and benefit from the corruption without worrying about the negative repercussions on the country.”
On Europe’s doorstep, Tunisia counts on a well-educated, youthful population. Every year, over 12,000 information technology engineers emerge out of a total population of 11 million people.
But in the absence of real prospects, young graduates are leaving the country. Every year, more than 3,000 IT engineers leave. Though salaries can sometimes be 2.5 times higher abroad, money is not the only reason for the brain drain, as  Nadhir, a Tunisian developer living in France explains in a Jeune Afrique article:
If the departure of IT professionals is massive, it echoes the desire to leave that is widespread among young people. What motivates the departures is mainly disappointment and pessimism about the future.
Meanwhile, over 12,000 IT engineering positions remain empty in Tunisia. This mass exodus has added to the slowdown of economic development and digitalization at home.
But amid the COVID-19 crisis, politicians have been quick to capitalize on rapid gains and make new promises.
Mohamed Fadhel Kraiem, the Minister of Communication Technologies and Digital Transformation promised on Twitter:
Mohamed Fadhel Kraiem : La phase après Covid-19 sera marquée par l’accélération de la digitalisation du pays https://t.co/i75nkytiYj pic.twitter.com/xOsbwbIHwQ
— webmanagercenter (@webmanagercente) June 3, 2020
But with little trust in politicians and a long history of unfulfilled promises, Tunisians are yet to be convinced.
What is clear is that in the absence of a cure or vaccine, the era of social distancing and restrictions on freedom of movement is likely to stay. Thus, there is mounting pressure on governments everywhere, including in Tunisia, to adapt to the new paradigm and create an overdue enabling environment.

author: Saoussen Ben Cheikh


text:
Four student activists arrested in Hong Kong for ‘inciting secession’ because of related social media posts · Global Voices
Hong Kong Free Press

Nineteen year-old Tony Chung, one of the four arrested. Photo taken by Kris Chung / HKFP.
The original version of this post was published on the Hong Kong Free Press on July 29 2020. The following edited version is published on Global Voices according to a content partnership agreement.
Hong Kong's newly established National Security Police Unit has arrested four youngsters aged between 16 to 21 on suspicion of inciting secession under the new National Security Law enacted on July 1. The evidence leading to their arrest was based on the content of related social media accounts.
The ex-convenor of Hong Kong pro-independence group Studentlocalism, 19-year-old Tony Chung, is one of the four arrested. Studentlocalism’s former spokesperson Ho Nok-hang and ex-member Yanni Ho were also taken away by national security officers.
The pro-independence group declared in a statement that it had disbanded and dismissed of all its Hong Kong members with immediate effect on June 30, one day before the National Security Law was enacted in Hong Kong.
However, Studentlocalism claimed that its members abroad would set up overseas branches in Taiwan, Australia and the United States.
This is the first time the new National Security department of the Hong Kong police force takes action targeting a political group, and arrests its suspected affiliates citing the controversial legislation which criminalises subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers. South China Morning Post's correspondent Jeffie Lam explained on Twitter:
This is huge: Tony Chung of Studentlocalism was arrested by national security officers for inciting secession, his group says. Previous NSL arrests were made during protests. This could be the first arrest made following police’s investigation. He is 19. pic.twitter.com/hWb6vPs4Id
— Jeffie Lam (@jeffielam) July 29, 2020
Last month, Beijing enacted laws to prevent, stop and punish behaviour in Hong Kong that it deems a threat to national security. The legislation was inserted into the city’s mini-constitution, bypassing the local legislature and giving police sweeping new powers.
Senior superintendent of the National Security department of the police force Steve Li told the press that three males and one female aged 16 to 21 had been arrested. He also stated the arrests were based on the nature of the content of some social media accounts that are affiliated to Studentlocalism. The related posts suggested they would use all means to establish a Republic of Hong Kong, and unite all pro-independence political groups.
Li cited Article 21 of the security law as stating that making statements that promote secession would constitute incitement, and it is not necessary to assess if someone was actually motivated by such content. Li said that:
Our sources and investigation show that the group recently announced on social media they would set up an organisation that advocates Hong Kong independence.
He stressed the content was posted after the security law was enacted, though he did not state specifically which group or posts were involved. Exiled Hong Kong activist Nathan Law expressed his outrage:
So students are arrested because of a SOCIAL MEDIA POST. Bloody hell. How vulnerable a country is to be afraid of a post by a group of teenagers. https://t.co/8FqN4YBThK
— Nathan Law 羅冠聰 ? (@nathanlawkc) July 29, 2020
Secession is defined in Article 20 of the security law in the following terms: “to participate, plan or implement… acts of secession… whether or not force or the threat of force is used.” The maximum penalty is life behind bars.
On July 17 a group called “Studentlocalism US Division” announced its establishment on social media with a membership recruitment form.
【 Studentlocalism US Division Prospect 】
Please continue reading by either clicking through the pictures above, or head to our Facebook page for the entire article.
Studentlocalism Overseas Divisions Volunteer Recruitment Form:https://t.co/SHyjjJlf1e pic.twitter.com/cBEij51byv
— 學生動源 Studentlocalism (@studentlocalism) July 20, 2020
It said the US branch will “promote our advocacy of Hong Kong independence to Hong Kong nationals in America and freedom loving Americans, convince [the] US to support our dream of Hong Kong independence… [and help] Hongkongers regain our deserved right of self-determination, eventually achieving Hong Kong independence.”
Tony Chung was previously arrested in 2019 after he allegedly snatched a Chinese national flag from its pole.

author: Hong Kong Free Press


text:
How Balinese communities in Indonesia are coping with the COVID-19 pandemic · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A seller in a Bali market. Photo by I Komang Arsa Saguna / BASAbali Wiki. Used with permission.
Bali, Indonesia’s top tourism island destination, will open its borders to domestic visitors on July 31. Officials are hoping the island’s opening will slowly revive the tourism sector which was gravely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bali’s experience in easing restrictions will guide the decision of authorities if Indonesia will once again welcome foreign tourists in September.
As of July 30, Indonesia has recorded 106,336 COVID-19 cases and 5,058 deaths caused by the virus. COVID-19 cases are active in all of the country's 34 provinces. Bali’s COVID-19 cases have doubled since the start of July. As of July 27, it reported 3,219 cases in the whole province.
The island, which largely depends on tourism, was suddenly put under lockdown in April. This has disrupted the local economy and displaced thousands of workers. How did residents survive in the past three months?
A wikithon organized by BASAbali Wiki urged Balinese participants to describe the impact of COVID-19 in their communities.
BASAbali Wiki is a digital platform promoting the Balinese language—one of Indonesia’s 707 languages. Based on the 2011 census, there are almost two million people who speak Balinese in Bali province which has a population of around four million.
One of the platform’s initiatives is a wikithon which aims to add more words and sentences to the BASAbali Wiki cultural dictionary. This year’s theme is about the social impact of COVID-19:
Covid-19 mini-wikithons provide a safe space for people to talk in their native Balinese language about their challenges and coping strategies of the pandemic in Balinese communities.
The top three photo and essay submissions were selected and translated into English and Indonesian languages.
The photo (see photo at the top of this article) and caption submitted by I Komang Arsa Saguna was recognized as the winner in the “Just Photo It” competition. The entry depicts how traders in local markets were affected by the pandemic. Here’s an excerpt of the translated caption:
In Bali, the COVID-19 outbreak has been plaguing us since March. When the outbreak hit Bali, many economic sectors were affected by the virus, ranging from the upper-middle to lower-middle economy. There is an appeal from the government to avoid this virus by working from home, compound or griya (large residence consisting of multiple courtyards). People who have jobs selling in the market find it difficult to sell.
Traders who sell at the market cannot carry out their work because fewer and fewer people shop at the market. Likewise, traders who sell in the market are afraid of the coronavirus, and this causes many traders not to sell in the market, though there are still some traders who do.
Although many small traders have received basic food assistance from the government, the assistance wasn't enough, which caused small traders to continue to sell, disobeying the government's call to avoid the danger of the coronavirus.
An elderly man wearing a face mask while tending to his farm. Photo by I Wayan Kuntara / BASAbali Wiki. Used with permission.
Meanwhile, the photo by I Wayan Kuntara won the third prize. It shows the vulnerability of the elderly in rural places. Here’s an excerpt of the translated caption:
The most susceptible to COVID-19 is usually an elderly person. Such a warning has an impact on the elderly in rural areas where they spend the majority of the day farming in the fields. It feels very tight working in the fields using a mask.
Under the “Just Confide It” category of the wikithon, participants were asked to write essays about how they coped with the disrupting impact of the pandemic.
Writing from Yogyakarta, university student I Kadek Surya Jayadi documented some of the scenes at the community market. Here’s a translated excerpt of the essay:
It's sad to see pedicab drivers who do not get passengers; I'm sad to see a newspaper deliveryman with no buyers; the kencur rice was also not sold. I can tell a lot more. Unlike most of the trading, herbal medicines sellers selling ginger, turmeric, and sere are suddenly crowded with buyers. Since the world has been hit by a pandemic, all kinds of herbal medicine sellers are busy with buyers. I also went along to buy herbal medicine at the market since there was an outbreak of Covid-19.
A family turned to farming to survive the pandemic. Photo by Made Sinar / BASABali Wiki. Used with permission.
The top essay was written by Made Sinar who gave a moving testimony about their family's decision to turn into farming to survive the pandemic. Here’s a translated excerpt of her essay:
My husband is also very diligent in working. Corn and sweet potatoes, which we planted every day, are now ready to be harvested. Every day my family eats corn and sweet potatoes. Sometimes we eat yam rice, sometimes steamed, sometimes also fried, which is important to stop the stomach from growling. There are vegetables also so that there is also income. I sell sweet potato chips. I make them. My eldest son is also diligent in helping, and my husband is in charge of taking him to the stalls. God still gives grace, even though we only sell sweet potato chips, and sometimes corn and vegetables, my family never goes hungry.

author: Mong Palatino


text:
In northern Syria, COVID-19 worsens an already dramatic humanitarian crisis · Global Voices
Mousa Mohamed - موسى محمد

Photo of the northern Syrian city of Idlib, shortly after a Russian missile strike destroyed a neighbourhood on March 14, 2019, resulting in the deaths of 10 civilians. The young man pictured told the photographer that he had just lost his family. Photo by Mousa Mohammed, used with permission.
The ongoing armed conflict in Syria has displaced over 1.6 million people who have fled mostly to the north of the country. The resulting catastrophic humanitarian crisis is now worsened by the impact of COVID-19 in the region.
In the Idlib region in northern Syria, residents already endure drastic conditions on a daily basis. Although Idlib has confirmed only one case of COVID-19 in July, many factors contribute to rising tensions, one of which is the continuing and deliberate violence inflicted on Idlib’s vital infrastructure by the Syrian-Russian military alliance which has completely destroyed its health sector.
According to Human Rights Watch, “northern Syria is not at all ready to face the ‘COVID-19′ pandemic.”
Hani al-Hariri, an activist from southern Syria now living in Idlib, told Global Voices that the situation could be catastrophic if COVID-19 reaches northern Syria, where displaced people barely have access to basic needs, including health care, water, and food, making social distancing and hygiene almost impossible to maintain.
In Idlib, children often pay the heaviest price of war. The war has driven approximately 190,000 orphaned children to the streets to fend for themselves among the ruins of Idlib. In total, an estimated 290,000 children have been repeatedly displaced by violence in northern Syria alone.
Jamil al-Hassan, a Syrian activist and journalist from Idlib, has been conducting humanitarian work for years in rebel-held regions. He talked to Global Voices about some of his experiences. The names mentioned in his testimony have been changed to protect their identities:
أحمد، وصلاح، وعبد الله، هم ثلاث أطفال دون سن العاشرة من العمر من حلب وإدلب فقدوا عائلاتهم في الحرب التي بدأت في عام 2011، أي من يقارب العشر سنوات، ولم يعد لهم أي قريب يعتمدون عليه سوى بعضهم البعض، أو أي ملجأ يؤوون اليه سوى قارعة أحد طرق إدلب.  وجدتهم في إحدى جولاتي اليومية، وشاركت الفيديو عبر صفحتي على تويتربهدف إيجاد طريقة لمساعدتهم.
Ahmad, Salah, and Abdullah are three children under the age of ten from Aleppo and Idlib, who lost their families in a war that began in 2011, almost 10 years ago. Left with no one to depend on except each other, their only refuge has been on one of Idlib’s sidewalks. I met them during one of my daily tours of the city, and shared a video on my Twitter account hoping to find a way to help them.
Here is the video mentioned by Hassan:
تشرد الأطفال مهما كانت أسبابه يبقى تشرد دون أي ذنب لهم #كونو_عوناً_لهم@zelal_abo_adnan pic.twitter.com/iYBv5SRWk2
— جميل الحسن (@jamlo1991) June 29, 2020
Displacement of children, whatever the causes, is the displacement of innocent children through no fault of their own. Support them.
Hassan added that the situation in northern Syria is catastrophic, and would get much worse with the spread of COVID-19. He explained:
منظر أطفال نائمين في الشوارع أصبح متكررا.  كل سكان إدلب في وضع حرج، ولكن الأطفال في الشوارع هم الأكثر عرضة للخطر في حال انتشار فيروس كورونا لأنه  لا توجد أي وسيلة لحمايتهم.
Children sleeping in the streets has become a frequent sight. While all of Idlib’s residents face a critical situation, children living on the streets are particularly at risk when the coronavirus starts spreading as there is no way to protect them.
The humanitarian disaster in Idlib has been the result of a series of military campaigns led by countries supporting the government of Bashar al-Assad: Russia, Iran on one side, and Turkey on the other side, which shifted from initially backing the Free Syrian Army, an opposition force founded by Syrian military defectors, to becoming its own player in the conflict in August 2016.
Idlib is the last stronghold of rebels and jihadists trying to overthrow the Assad government that now controls almost 64 percent of Syria. It has been under the control of a number of rival opposition factions since 2015. The region is home to more than 4.5 million people, including nearly 1.6 million internally displaced refugees, mostly women and children, who have come from various provinces throughout Syria.
These repeated campaigns have caused unfathomable suffering to Syrians.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed and nearly one million people forcibly displaced in Idlib, and surrounding areas, just between December 2019 and March 2020, due to indiscriminate aerial bombardment, ground shelling, arrests, torture, and pillaging, according to a report published on July 7, by the UN Syria Commission of Inquiry. The opening remarks of the report can be read in this tweet:
Opening remarks by Chair of @UNCoISyria, Paulo Pinheiro at press conference presenting their new report.https://t.co/oiH2zL5SjK
— HRC SECRETARIAT (@UN_HRC) July 7, 2020
Between December 2019 and March 2020, displaced people took refuge in overcrowded camps along the Turkish border, north of Syria, for protection. In these inhospitable places, refugees have been exposed to sub-zero-degree temperatures in Celsius throughout winter, crowding together in tents and makeshift shelters in what UN Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lockock described as the “biggest human horror story of the 21st century.”
In a June 28 phone call with Global Voices, Hariri, who volunteers for an organization that brings together the people of Daraa, northern Syria, said that “tents do not protect from the heat of the summer or the cold of winter.”
He added that tents have caught fire as a result of high temperatures exceeding 40 degrees C, in addition to people cooking inside them. Winters have been no better, with tents catching fire as a result of shoes and clothes being burned inside them in desperate attempts to produce warmth in the sub-zero temperatures. Hariri said:
العيش في هذه الظروف المأساوية في الخيم يعد كارثي، لانها غير صالحة للسكن، وإنما تعتبر حل اسعافي مؤقت لمن فقد منزله
Living in these tragic conditions in the tents is disastrous, because they [are] uninhabitable, [and] they are considered a temporary emergency solution for those who lost their homes.
Incidents of burning tents have been captured on social media:
اصابة طفلة بحروق نتيجة احتراق خيمة في احدى مخيمات شمال #ادلب بالقرب من كفرلوسين
يارب فرجك ? pic.twitter.com/r21ZmFy4fI
— M . Talha |أبو مجاهد الحلبي (@mahmoodtalha22) July 3, 2020
A child was burned as a result of a tent catching fire in camp north of Idlib, near Kafrlosen. God please help.
Meanwhile, the nonprofit organization Save the Children revealed that more than 200,000 people, half of whom are children, have left the camps in northwest Syria to other locations or have returned to their destroyed homes. Prompted by the temporary cease-fire agreement that began on March 6, these families faced an impossible choice between confronting the virus or facing war.
Save the Children tweeted:
The plight of children and their families in North West #Syria is heart-breaking. They have had to escape intense fighting and are now forced to flee #coronavirus.
“They have nowhere to go but the rubble of their homes.” – Sonia Khush.
Read more: https://t.co/YY7LPgKhIE
— Save the Children International (@save_children) June 22, 2020
These families face dire conditions due to the harsh economic situation embodied by a staggering rise in food prices. These include the inability to access essential services like electricity, water, or the internet. Nevertheless, they continue to survive day-to-day, while facing an uncertain future amid a proxy war taking place on Idlib territory at the expense of innocent civilians.
While the world dedicates tremendous resources to fighting the pandemic, the Assad regime, in cooperation with its allies, have dedicated their own resources to killing, displacing and starving the Syrian people. With nearly 4.5 million people in Idlib still suffering from the war, they now anticipate the fallout from another inevitable humanitarian catastrophe.

author: Mousa Mohamed - موسى محمد


text:
Musicians with albinism defy social stigma and break new ground in Cameroon’s creative sector · Global Voices
Boris-Karloff Batata

Mola Mongombe (right) expresses concern for the treatment of people with albinism in Cameroon and also discusses his work as a cultural music promoter, in Buea, Cameroon, July 16, 2020, photo by the author, used with permission.
Musicians with albinism in Cameroon have brushed aside social stigma to actively participate in the country’s vibrant arts and culture.
Albinism is a congenital condition in which a person is born without pigment in their skin, hair and eyes. Those born with albinism in Cameroon often live with discrimination and misunderstanding about their condition.
Now, people with albinism are turning to music to convey powerful messages that encourage citizens to resist community pressures to discriminate against albinos.
Ntungwa Njomo Felgani, popularly known as Boy TAG (The Albino Guy) is one of Cameroon’s rising music stars who draws inspiration from the torments he went through as an albino person to produce beautiful songs.
At Boy TAG's recording studio on Campaign Street, Buea, Cameroon, prior to World Albinism Day. Photo by the author, used with permission.
Global Spoke with Boy TAG last month to hear about his motivations:
I chose Boy TAG which means ‘The Albino Guy’ because I want to represent albinos, I had to represent who I am and send across positive messages.” In one of his songs called ‘Mignoncite,’ he encourages people to be proud of who they are. “People should not try to change their colors because they want to be like others — God was not foolish making you that way.
Boy TAG learned this lesson the hard way. As a kid growing up in Muyuka, a town in southwest Cameroon, he faced bullying and insults based on his condition. He continued:
It wasn’t easy for me growing up as an albino. A lot of people insulted me — even mothers sent their children to freely insult me in Muyuka, as if it was my fault. It was really not easy, I felt so much hurt — it really hurt. I could have been going through depression back then without even knowing what depression is.
Here's a video featuring Boy TAG's song “Mignoncite”:
Mola Mongombe, an albino person who is also a popular music producer, can relate. Mongombe, who works as a promoter, pianist, songwriter, bass player and music teacher, specializes in Njoku jazz, a special sound from Bakweri Land, from his homeland.
Speaking to Global Voices this month, Mongombe explained how Bakweri Land has over 25 variations of music but most people only associate the area with chacha music. “I decided that am going to make people feel that it’s not about the language or a particular dance style but it is about culture, it’s something deeper,” he said.
He says he came up with the Njoku jazz style “to promote everything that has to do with the music from Fako Land … and make people who are non-Bakwerian feel the music.” Mongombe does not always talk directly about his albinism but as a performer, he is sending the message that musicians with albinism can make a mark on the industry.
Here's a video of Mongombe's song called “Endale”:
People with albinism may be the most discriminated and stigmatized group in Africa, and Cameroon, in particular, according to Mimimefoinfos, an online news site.
Despite the beautiful aspirations of Mongombe and other albino musicians in Cameroon, they continue to face the double challenge of making it in the competitive music industry and also dealing with the perpetual stigma associated with albinism.
This stigma stems from deep cultural traditions that consider albinos as “people with mystical powers.” As a result, witch doctors continue to seek out albinos “for their hair, nails and body parts,” seriously threatening their lives.
In some areas of Cameroon, “there is [a] belief that albinos can either be sacrificed to gods or used as a cure for many diseases,” according to state broadcaster CRTV. In the southwest region where Mount Cameroon sometimes erupts, “albinos were thrown alive on the erupting flames as a sacrifice to the ‘angry’ gods of the mountain,” according to the same CRTV report.
Following the special CRTV report, Cameroon’s Ministry of Social Affairs classified albinos under groups of people with special protection needs, under Decree N°2011/408 of December 9, 2011, that fights against social exclusion.
In addition to this important step to protect albinos, the government also supports local artists through the organization of music festivals that are inclusive to all, including artists with albinism who promote arts and cultural heritage.
Grace Ewang, the southwest regional delegate for arts and culture in the southwest region, said that the Festival des Musiques et des Danses Patrimoniales (FESMUDAP), or Heritage Music and Dances Festival, is thankful for artists who valorize culture and wants to “give artists the red carpet treatment,” during an interview with Global Voices in December 2019.
“We have to work hard to see that [artists] transmit their cultural heritage to the younger ones,” she said, referring to FESMUDAP music training sessions for youth during holiday breaks.
“I want to tell those who are in traditional music that they should not tremble because they are doing the right thing and we are behind them for promoting the culture of the southwest region,” Ewang said.
Musician Mola Mongombe expressed his worries, however, telling Global Voices that his own people from Bakweri Land do not really support his artwork. He stays optimistic knowing that he can count on fans far and wide.

author: Boris-Karloff Batata


text:
Secret trials threaten open justice in Australia · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Protesters in Brisbane protesting Australia's claim on Timor Leste oil, May 2017- Photo by Andrew Mercer / Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
A government illegally bugs the office of a foreign country’s Prime Minister during treaty negotiations. The spy in charge who turned whistleblower and his lawyer face secret trials. Connections are exposed between government politicians and a big oil company that gained financially from the treaty.
A cold war spy novel or a modern scandal involving Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) or America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)? Think again!
In 2004 Australia and the new nation of Timor Leste were negotiating a treaty over their border in the Timor Sea. The future of rich oil and gas fields was at stake.  The Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) bugged PM Xanana Gusmão’s office to steal an advantage in the talks. The Australian Foreign Minister at the time, AlexanderDowner, apparently ordered the surveillance. He later took a consultancy with Woodside Petroleum, the company that benefited from the original treaty. There have been other suggestions of conflicts of interest. That treaty was eventually renegotiated in 2018 after the deception was made public.
Global Voices reported on the unfolding story in 2013:
‘Australia Spied on Timor Leste to Gain Commercial Advantage’
East Timor: ‘Australia Spied on Us for Oil Secrets’
The identity of the whistleblower, known as Witness K, has been suppressed. In 2018 he and his lawyer Bernard Collaery were charged with conspiracy to give secrets to Timor Leste. This required the consent of the minister in charge of justice, the Attorney-general Christian Porter. They are facing separate trials.
Witness K has pleaded guilty but maintains that his only breach was to prepare an affidavit for arbitration hearings between the governments at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Collaery, who is a former Attorney-general of the Australian Capital Territory, has pleaded not guilty. Part of Collaery’s trial will take place in secret following a court decision that protects sensitive or classified information.
Many people on social media have been outraged by the prosecutions, fearing the direction their country is taking:
“A crime against one of the poorest countries in the world by one of the richest.” This is our Australia. #bernardcollaery #witnessk #DroptheProsecutions https://t.co/RY9JC8V8JK
— Jenny Coles (@meerpup11) July 11, 2020
The Bernard Collaery persecution has to be one most evil prosecutions (that we know about) in Aust history.
A lawyer, assisting a whistleblower going to International Court of Justice, being secretly tried for calling out morally bankrupt if not criminal conduct by Aust Govts https://t.co/8gE4Dmi4cj
— Philip Thalis (@PhilipThalis) June 15, 2020
Many also question just who or what is being protected. The intelligence agencies? Government ministers who authorized the spying operation or have approved the prosecutions? The commercial oil interests and others who profited from the original treaty?
Human rights campaigner Tom Clarke is a vocal advocate for Witness K and Collaery:
The Howard Government spied on our Timorese neighbours in an attempt to plunder their oil & gas. Now the Morrison Government is trying to hide the truth and ‘bury the bodies’. It’s outrageous, morally bankrupt and must be challenged https://t.co/pxpauDh9gD
— Tom Clarke (@TomHRLC) July 23, 2020
Others believe that the real purpose behind the drawn-out legal proceedings is to deter possible future whistleblowers.
In August 2019, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Four Corners program examined the Timor Leste scandal in Secrets, Spies and Trials. It explored ‘the tension between those who say national security is paramount and those who fear the steady encroachment of state security on the public's right to know’.
Stephen Charles, a former judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria and barrister, has represented both ASIS and ASIO ( the foreign and domestic intelligence agencies) in past cases. He was just one of several senior legal figures interviewed in the program who were disturbed by the direction of the trials:
It is a fundamental aspect of the rule of law that proceedings take place in public. It is difficult to imagine any justification for these proceedings taking place in secret.
Everyone who reads the newspapers is aware that ASIS officers entered and bugged the Timorese cabinet premises. Everyone is aware that the result of bugging those premises was that Australia got a huge and very unfair advantage in the negotiations being carried out between Timor and Australia.
The trend to prosecute whistleblowers has been alarming. In an unprecedented case, decorated military intelligence officer Witness J’s identity, trial, conviction and prison sentence were kept completely secret. He and Bernard Collaery have been given Empty Chair Human Rights awards by civil rights organisation Liberty Victoria:
The secret trials… challenge one of the fundamental bases of our legal system: the requirement for open justice and accountability.
The cases… highlight the need for strong action to ensure that any such trials are held in open court and subject to public scrutiny.
Former military lawyer David McBride also faces a potentially secret trial for blowing the whistle on alleged war crimes by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. His “Afghan Files’ revelations were behind a Federal police raid on the ABC and possible criminal charges against one of its journalists.
There is an official investigation being conducted by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force, with alarming claims continuing to emerge such as the murder of non-combatants. The slow progress of the inquiry is a concern for some on social media:
Australia and War Crimes: Mistake – Same AK-47 planted twice on two dead Afghan civilians killed by Australian soldiers: For more than four years, Inspector-General of Australian Defence Force has been conducting inquiry into allegations of war crimes. https://t.co/4ViqaWX6BK
— Lionel Bopage (@Leonine111) July 17, 2020
These trials are being held as Australia is fast becoming a security state with surveillance laws undermining digital rights and police raids on news organisations and journalists attacking media freedom. Journalist Paul Gregoire, writing on The Big Smoke opinions platform, argues that the decline of open justice in Australia has “glimmerings of totalitarianism”.
Journalists at the ABC have taken to Twitter to add their voices:
How can Australia ever pursue arguments for the importance of free speech in places like China when it criminalises public interest journalism at home? What a shabby, shameful affair this is. https://t.co/BVJNCxcAbk
— Linton Besser (@lb_online) July 2, 2020
In a recent development, proposed national security legislation would allow children as young as fourteen to undergo compulsory interrogation by intelligence agents. their parent or guardian could be removed from an interview for being disruptive.In addition, tracking devices could also be planted on cars or in bags without a warrant.

author: Kevin Rennie


text:
Trinidad & Tobago NGO identifies treatment of women as key issue in upcoming elections · Global Voices
Flora Thomas

“The finger that voted”; photo by Georgia Popplewell on Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Trinidad and Tobago's general elections will take place on August 10, and as much as electioneering in the time of COVID-19 has had some voters calling for campaign ingenuity, the substance of the messages has, for the most part, been more of the same.
The nonprofit Womantra, which educates and advocates for policy reform around the issues of women's rights and gender justice, has put out a statement about patriarchy — yet another source of dissatisfaction in the elections:
All candidates seeking public office should be meticulously screened, not only for portfolio and party compatibility but also for biases that impact their ability to serve the national community. Sexism is among these biases and one of the most dangerous. […] the words and actions of our politicians have been well documented by local media, the legacy of which informs what is deemed acceptable behaviour for those in authority and continues to haunt us today. In the midst of the 2020 general election campaign, it is clear that this problem persists.
The statement identified certain issues the group saw as problematic, including the nomination of a candidate currently facing sexual assault charges; another who has had “online allegations involving sexual offences” being levelled against him; and a third who has had an interim protection order taken out against him by a former partner.
No judgement has yet been handed down on the rape charge, no formal charges have been made against the candidate accused of sexual offences, and the protection order against the third candidate expired on July 23, upon which he was due to appear in court regarding the matter.
Womantra described these as “instances of grossly misogynist narratives:”
We note that these problems are wide reaching and that aspiring Members of Parliament from at least 3 political parties have come under scrutiny, underscoring the need for urgent and collective attention to end violence against women in politics.
Their position was echoed by Gabrielle Hosein, a lecturer at the Institute for Gender and Development Studies at The University of the West Indies (UWI), who noted that struggles over democracy are “always interwoven” with those of gender and sexuality, and condemned such “continued tolerance for gender-based and sexual violence, which are not yet considered so abhorrent that they deny men political legitimacy”:
If nothing else, understand young women’s fear that these could be the men who hold power over them and to whom they must pay respect, like those abusive uncles who somehow retain their place and authority in the family.
As such, Womantra has called for amendments to Trinidad and Tobago's constitution so that “persons who are convicted of any offence involving sexual harassment or assault be disqualified from being elected or appointed as a member of the Senate and/or the House of Representatives.”
Language emerged as another key issue, with a request that the booklet on parliamentary language is updated “to admonish the use of sexist statements, comments or words:”
Borrowing from the 2020 Council of Europe (COE) report, we echo the call for our Parliamentarians to take a strong stand against sexist attacks targeting women and to introduce or revise codes of conduct explicitly prohibiting sexist behaviour and speech in their assemblies. The COE Report also recommends that States be vigilant during election periods with regard to sexist attacks against women and to monitor candidate nomination procedures for inequalities.
Womantra also saw the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) playing a critical role by taking “all allegations made against political officials or aspiring representatives seriously and commence investigations promptly, particularly given the impending election of August 10.”
Special mention was made of revenge porn, the investigation of which falls under the TPPS’ Cybercrime Unit:
We stand in solidarity with women candidates who have been the victims of such attacks and firmly denounce the claims that victims of revenge porn should be barred from public office. Such a position is difficult to reconcile with the recent amendments to the Domestic Violence Act, which expand the definition of emotional or psychological abuse to include unwelcome or intimidatory contact through electronic means.
Citing the case of young political candidate Nabila Greene, who allegedly appeared in a video in which a faceless man showered her with money, Hosein observed that “gender and sexuality often become weaponised in electoral campaigns.” Although a 29-year-old man has since been charged with harassment and attempted extortion of Greene, Hosein maintained that “it’s actually irrelevant what women […] do in private, legal and consensual entanglements”:
Undermining women’s aspirations for political leadership, through breaking their trust and violating their privacy, is a deliberate containment of their democratic participation. And, it works. It’s one disturbing reason why there are fewer women in political leadership today.
For Womantra, it came down to scrutiny:
Perpetrators in positions of power not only silence victims but are granted access to further perpetuate their power and control over those they are charged with protecting. If violence against women is allowed to run rampant at the House of Representatives, how can gender equality be achieved in the lower rungs of the public service, the corporate sector, and within the home? We cannot and must not allow persons who commit crimes and devalue women, in words or in deeds, to have access to the seat of power in this country. Violence against women cannot be business as usual […]
Eight other civil society organisations have endorsed the statement, including Conflict Women, which financially empowers survivors of domestic and sexual abuse, and the Caribbean Male Action Network, which includes men and boys in the fight towards gender equality.


text:
Appeal court says the answer to Guyana’s election results lies in the recount · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The three Guyana Appeals Court judges hand down their ruling in the in Misenga Jones elections case, on July 30, 2020. Screenshot taken from the Stabroek News livestream of the judgement.
On July 30, Guyana's Court of Appeal handed down its judgement in the action brought by Misenga Jones, a supporter of the governing coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), who petitioned the court to have the numbers from the election recount discarded.
In a unanimous decision that was livestreamed, the country's appeals court determined that the recount votes should be used to determine and declare the result of the general elections, which took place nearly five months ago on March 2.
Jones had argued that the figures put forward by Clairmont Mingo, the electoral officer in charge of Region 4, the district around which the election results controversy swirls, should be used for the preparation of the Chief Election Officer's report.
In Guyana, election results must be verified by Statements of Poll; the initial results declared by Mingo had been read from a spreadsheet.
The three presiding judges also ruled that Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield must submit his official report based on the results of the recount.
Lowenfield had initially said that he believed a number of ballot boxes to be “infected” [votes that cannot be confirmed as legitimate]; despite clear legislation to the contrary, he maintained that he was not going to include them in the count. Now, it seems, he will not have a choice.
The judgement falls in line with the Caribbean Court of Justice's (CCJ) ruling, which stated:
Unless and until an election court decides otherwise, the votes already counted by the recount process as valid votes are incapable of being declared invalid by any person or authority.
Both these rulings fly in the face of the position the government has taken, which it reiterated in a July 26 statement, that “fraudulent votes must be excluded” from the count. Guyana's laws only allow for the validity of votes to be challenged through an election petition after the overall election result has been declared and a government is in place. Challenging the legitimacy of votes cannot be done during the process itself.
The APNU+AFC press release also stated:
The APNU+AFC entered into the recount process with the expectation that the misgivings regarding the Mingo declarations would be investigated. Unlike 1997 [when Janet Jagan took the presidential oath under the People's Progressive Party (PPP)] President Granger did not have himself sworn in secretly, but suggested a recount as we have nothing to hide. What came out of the process was indications of massive fraud and ‘rigging’ perpetrated and to the benefit of the PPP.
Attorneys representing the opposition PPP consistently maintained that any challenge of the recount can only be approached through an election petition, and asked the appeals court to allow the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to finalise and declare the results of the election.
Now that the judgement has paved the way for this to happen, it remains to be seen whether the APNU+AFC will graciously step down.
Once the decision was announced, President David Granger said he would accept GECOM's declaration without condition, even if it includes votes that his party deems invalid.
However, in a Facebook video posted soon after the ruling was delivered, APNU+AFC's campaign manager, Joseph Harmon, registered his dissatisfaction with “how the [appeals] court was constituted”, and suggested the ruling was “not sound in law”. He also reiterated the party's stance that “fraudulent votes cannot be the basis for a final declaration to be made”.
The two differing positions have heightened public speculation that there is a widening rift within the coalition, which the party seems ill equipped to survive.
In response to the APNU+AFC's claims of fraudulent ballots, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Observer Team report concluded that the irregularities identified were not “sufficient grounds to invalidate the tabulation of the votes at the recount and therefore […] DO NOT constitute sufficient grounds to challenge the integrity of the recount process.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Hong Kong government disqualifies 12 pro-democracy candidates running for the local legislature · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The 12 pro-democracy candidates barred from running in the LegCo election. Image from the Stand News, used with permission
Twelve pro-democracy candidates running for the Hong Kong Legislative Council (LegCo) election were disqualified on July 30  by returning officers who are responsible for reviewing basic information of candidates running for public positions.
The political spectrum of those 12 candidates ranges from localists like Joshua Wong and Lester Shum, who advocate for political autonomy, to moderate pro-democracy figures like Alvin Yeung and Kenneth Leung from the Civil Party that advocates for human rights and rule of law.
The Hong Kong government said in a press statement that the returning officers’ disqualification decision has its full support. It said candidates who advocate self-determination, support foreign intervention, oppose in principle the enactment of the national security in Hong Kong “could not genuinely” uphold the Basic Law, Hong Kong's de facto mini constitution.
According to article 104 of that legal document, members of the Legislative Council must swear to uphold the Basic Law and swear allegiance to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Starting from 2016, the Hong Kong government has used this article to disqualify elected lawmakers for their “disingenuous” oath-taking. Since then, returning officers have been empowered to screen the candidates by reviewing their public speech.
The government stressed that it could not “rule out the possibility that more nominations would be invalidated” in the next few days.
Beijing’s Liaison Office, which represents the government of the People's Republic of China in the special administrative region of Hong Kong, issued a similar statement but added that those who stated they would indiscriminately veto the government’s budget and bills upon election would also fall in the disqualification row.
Two weeks ago, more than 610,000 Hongkongers participated in the primary election of the pro-democracy camp to decide on a list of 30 candidates running for the upcoming LegCo elections. The objective is to win a majority of seats in the legislative body.
Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong under the British colonial rule, described the disqualification as “an outrageous political purge”:
The National Security law is being used to disenfranchise the majority of Hong Kong’s citizens […]It is obviously now illegal to believe in democracy… This is the sort of behaviour that you would expect in a police state.
The disqualification decision, in particular the disqualification of the political moderates of the Civic Party, indicates that Beijing will no longer tolerate any political opposition voices within the LegCo.
Currently four of the Civic Party candidates have received a disqualification notice. Alan Leong, Chair of the Party anticipated that all six of his party candidates would be disqualified, as the letters of the returning officers were almost exactly the same and hence could not be the outcome of an independent review process.
Joshua Wong posted his returning officer’s letter on Twitter and said in the comment thread:
Beijing shows a total disregard for the will of Hongkongers, tramples upon the city’s last pillar of vanishing autonomy and attempts to keep HK’s legislature under its firm grip.
Another disqualified candidate affiliated with the localists, Tiffany Yuen said on Twitter:
I am alone, but not lonely.
You can bar me, the 12 of us, or even more tomorrow, but you can't stop the Movement. pic.twitter.com/iyfHZBnDjm
— Tiffany Yuen (@tiffanyykw) July 31, 2020
Exiled activist Nathan Law pointed out that Beijing has turned Hong Kong Legislative Council into a political body similar to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) manipulated National People's Congress, China's equivalent of a parliament:
12 pro-democracy legislative council candidates are disqualified TODAY. MORE to come tmr. Most of the candidates from the camp are expected to be barred. The govt is constructing a CCP assembly in Legco to eliminate most of the opposition voice. Outrageous. #HONGKONG
— Nathan Law 羅冠聰 ? (@nathanlawkc) July 30, 2020
The mass disqualification of LegCo candidates has shocked the international community. British foreign Secretary Dominic Raab condemned the decision:
It is clear they have been disqualified because of their political views, undermining the integrity of One Country, Two Systems and the rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Joint Declaration and Hong Kong’s Basic Law.
Marco Rubio, Chairman of the United States’ Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee stated:
The actions of the Hong Kong government to disqualify 12 pro-democracy candidates from running in the Legislative Council election, including Joshua Wong and Lester Shum, strips the Hong Kong people of their voice and secures Beijing’s control of the city. The Chinese Communist Party’s determination to remake the city in its image is an outrage and a tragedy for those who support the cause of freedom. The U.S. and the international community must respond to these assaults by the CCP and assist Hong Kongers who will need protection from political persecution.


text:
Nigerians counteract COVID-19 denialism with social media campaigns · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

Ogun State COVID-19 Isolation Centre. Image by Dr. Opeyemi Adeyemi, used with permission.
Nigerians are reducing the effect of COVID-19 denial narratives with powerful online Twitter campaigns such as #MyCOVID19NaijaStory and #COVIDStopswithMe.
These counter-narratives aim to prove that the deadly coronavirus is not a hoax and more importantly, to encourage people to adopt good public health behaviours to mitigate its spread.
As of July 29, Nigeria had recorded 41,804 confirmed COVID-19 cases,18,764 recoveries and 868 deaths.
Many Nigerians believe that the coronavirus pandemic is a hoax, according to Yemisi Adegoke, a journalist at BBC Africa who spoke in an investigative documentary featuring Lagos University Teaching Hospital, where COVID-19 patients are being treated.
The denial stems from a chronic lack of trust exacerbated by many years of broken promises by past and present governments.
#COVID19 cases in ?? are rising, but some people still don’t believe the virus is real.
The scenes at LUTH tell a different story.@josh_akinyemi and I were granted access to the COVID wards there & met the doctors and nurses on the front lines.
Full video out 08/07/20 pic.twitter.com/eqyIwLgH4W
— Yemisi Adegoke (@briticoyemo) July 6, 2020
In addition, the thinking on streets is that the pandemic is a foreign invention embraced by Nigerian politicians and their cronies who see it as a new cash cow.
For instance, Bill Gates recently donated $1 million US dollars (383 million naira) to Nigeria to fight COVID-19. Also, Nigeria’s various state governments continue to receive COVID-19 funds from the federal government.
Sadly, this perception has gained traction because public officials indeed stole funds meant to fight COVID-19.
On July 27, Aderemi Ojekunle of Dataphyte, a media think tank, reported that some federal agencies’ unbridled kleptomania mismanaged a COVID-19 fund for masks and liquid soap worth 1.69 billion naira, or about $4.4 million USD.
Similarly, in Enugu, southeastern Nigeria, the COVID-19 relief package meant for distribution to the poor and vulnerable during the coronavirus lockdown never got to them, reports Ripples newspaper.
On the other hand, other citizens think coronavirus sickness only affects the wealthy and upper class — or that it is being blown out of proportion.
While this does not justify the denial of coronavirus, it explains why this attitude is rife among most Nigerians. This explains why these two campaigns are making concerted efforts to reclaim a factual and more trust-based narrative.
#MyCOVID19NaijaStory has popular validity because it brings together Nigerians from all walks of life who have recovered from the disease or are working to mitigate or treat infected patients, humanizing the conversation by centering on real people in local languages.
Nigeria's Ministry of Health Twitter account shared this video of a woman who contracted COVID-19 who tells her story in Nigerian Pidgin, as part of the #MyCOVID19NaijaStory campaign:
Many people don't believe that COVID19 exists in Nigeria. #MyCOVID19NaijaStory makes us understand how this disease has affected people across the country.
Not everyone that gets infected has symptoms #Takeresponsibility & adhere to preventive measures watch & share. pic.twitter.com/4NvlHEwGFv
— Federal Ministry of Health, NIGERIA (@Fmohnigeria) May 30, 2020
In the video, the woman stated:
I did not believe that COVID exists. They brought the coronavirus samples collection unit to my area and asked us to get tested. I accepted and did the test. I did not believe that COVID was real because I thought our government was using this as another new means to embezzle funds.
After three days, they [health officials] called, informing me that my test result was out. I was told I was positive. […] I also did not travel. That's why I'm puzzled how I got the virus. When I was told that I have the disease, I said that it was impossible, that I don't have it. Being infected is real. But that's not a death sentence.
COVID-19 denial in Nigeria is not confined to the lower class.
Abuja-based lawyer Damilare Ojo tested positive for COVID-19 on May 18, and was discharged from the Gwagwalada Isolation Centre after seven days on May 25. On June 8, Ojo shared his story on Facebook with the admonition that the “COVID-19 virus is real in Nigeria.”
In a brief Twitter thread, a medical doctor and resident of Abuja, Nigeria, shares his COVID-19 story, including his symptoms, treatment and how he coped. The thread ends with an assertive plea for good hygiene and protective measures and urges listeners to resist COVID-19 denialism:
I started having symptoms of COVID-19 23 days ago. I got tested and result came out positive.
I went through a torrid time with symptoms such as; fever, headache, throat pain, chest pain, vomiting, diarrhea, swollen lymph nodes and chicken pox like skin eruptions for 14 days pic.twitter.com/hRvNjDStrz
— TH3 L3G3ND (@the_drterry) July 15, 2020
#MyCOVID19NaijaStory also pays tribute to courageous frontline Nigerian health workers such as Dr. Opeyemi Adeyemi, who works in a COVID-19 isolation centre in Ogun State, southwest Nigeria.
#MyCOVID19NaijaStoryof Dr. Opeyemi Adeyemi, COVID-19 isolation centre in Ogun State, Nigeria, image used with permission.
Adeyemi had the daunting task of getting relatives of a deceased COVID-19 patient to accept that their mother's burial would have to be different than usual, Nigeria Health Watch reports. Adeyemi endured long 10-hour shifts as well as stigma from fellow health workers, who didn't want to come near her because they feared the risk of infection, she said.
Nurse Adebusola Adewole volunteered in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Eti-Osa COVID-19 Isolation Centre in Lagos. “There were a few times when I contemplated pulling out,” she said. She became overwhelmed by the rising cases and the general stress of working on the frontlines.
Dr. Adedapo Adesanya also volunteered to work in the ICU for COVID-19 at the Eti-Osa Isolation Centre, Lagos:
“I waited many years for the opportunity to serve my country during a pandemic. You can only imagine the joy I felt when I got the phone call to inform me that…”
-Adedapo Adesanya, #COVID19Nigeria frontline health worker.#MyCOVID19NaijaStory pic.twitter.com/atNpD2P9dB
— Nigeria Health Watch (@nighealthwatch) June 19, 2020
Due to the harsh economic reality in Nigeria, most Nigerians cannot afford the privilege of volunteering. Hence, it is doubly heroic for Adewole and Adesanya to volunteer as frontline health care professionals during the pandemic.
#Covid19StopsWithMe is a campaign to raise awareness and promote good public health behavior launched by Nigerian music producer Michael Collins Ajereh, popularly known as DonJazzy. He wants Nigerians to take ownership of efforts to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
On June 23, DonJazzy shared a video showing the precautions he takes before getting a haircut. In the video, his barber was seen using sanitizer while DonJazzy wears a face mask.
Good morning. I will like to know some of the precautions you have learnt to take to keep you and your family safe in these times. Pls share. Thanks #Covid19StopsWithMe pic.twitter.com/j7YCduU4TG
— ?ITS DONJAZZY AGAIN? (@DONJAZZY) June 23, 2020
DonJazzy used his social media clout to push the message. With 4.7 million Twitter followers, the video has 19,000 views on Twitter and 212,208 views on Instagram as of June 29.
He also enlisted other celebrities in the #Covid19StopsWithMe campaign.
Thank you boss Daniel Amokachi . #covid19stopswithme pic.twitter.com/ocspDkdWTX
— ?ITS DONJAZZY AGAIN? (@DONJAZZY) June 23, 2020
In the above video, retired professional footballer and former assistant manager of the Nigeria national football team, Daniel Amokachi, in a mixture of English and Nigerian Pidgin, advised Nigerians to wash their hands regularly, observe physical distancing and take responsibility for stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
DonJazzy also promoted video blogger Oliseh Kadishi’s #Covid19StopsWithMe YouTube video on the importance of using hand sanitizers regularly.
The protagonists of these campaigns speak directly with fellow citizens, making a strong impact on the lives of ordinary people because they can relate to them. These counter-narratives successfully confront the root cause of the coronavirus denial because they lack the usual distrust associated with government interventions.

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike