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#NepalQuake: When Human Trafficking Is not Earth-Shattering And More Needs To Be Done · Global Voices
Saprina Panday

Anonymous hands in chains on a bed convey the helplessness of victims of human trafficking universally, 11 July 2012. Image by Flickr User @Imagens Evangélicas (CC BY 2.0)
Nepal is infamous as a hotbed for human trafficking. When two earthquakes rocked Nepal in April and May, killing nearly 9,000 people, and leaving many survivors homeless, the vulnerability of men, women and children to the thriving flesh trade in the region was picked up on by international media within the first week of the earthquake.
There was much fear that an overwhelmed government would not be responsive to the threat, but with the help of international organisations such as UNICEF,  513 potential cases of trafficking have been prevented since the earthquake in Nepal. In this regard, many regard the government's actions to stem the trade in a positive light:
Nepal's Government taking steps to prevent child trafficking! http://t.co/fmzx3lgfzU Amazing. @NextGenNp
— Conor Grennan (@conorgrennan) May 27, 2015
A brilliant move by the Nepal government to protect children from traffickers http://t.co/jgVxxNpzbf
— Archana Tomar (@archanaorama) June 3, 2015
Glad to hear that the Nepali government has imposed restrictions for underaged travel to combat human trafficking – http://t.co/eZAlSNMDVu
— Andrew Carreiro (@ArcadeErrorWin) June 3, 2015
Yet, despite significant government efforts to stem the trade both in Nepal and neighbouring India, many wonder whether existing regulations are strong enough to fight against the old and sophisticated machinery of trafficking, a system many see as unbreakable due to long-standing political protection.
Human trafficking in Nepal is not news
As of 2011, according to a report by the United Nations, 10-15,000 women and children are trafficked from Nepal to India and the Gulf where they are either forcefully engaged into the sex trade, or sold as bonded labourers.
Last year, there were efforts to raise awareness of the problem through campaigns such as #taughtnottrafficked, while the U.S. State Department provided an award to a Nepali judge who helped craft victim-focused legislation to combat trafficking.
But Nepal has still shown little progress since 2008 in terms of rooting out the problem.
Some, such as commentator Jwahar Talchabhadell, see the issue as too endemic to be overcome:
We can write about it, we can talk about it in the seminars, we can make documentaries and movies about it, but this has become so entrenched a staple in the Nepali society that even successive progressive democratic governments have decided to maintain a “hands-off” attitude. Not even God can or will help Nepali women from being sold into brothels not just in India but in all other parts of the world including the darkest of the continent.
‘Earthquake orphans’ are a business
Children are an easy target, particularly through the adoption trade. Traffickers are known to lure parents into putting their children in orphanages and childcare homes. Prior to the earthquakes this year, about 15,000 children lived in child care homes, even though 85 percent of them had a least one living parent.
There was therefore much fear that in the state of emergency a flood of ‘earthquake orphans’ would be taken into such homes, regardless of whether they had families or not. International and local organisations, as well as former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown argued bringing the children into school was the best means of protecting them from predatory traffickers.
On May 27, the Nepali government instituted child travel restrictions so that children would have to be accompanied by their parents or legal guardians when moving between districts and suspended both international adoption and the registration of new orphanages. It also intensified cooperation with the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs for greater vigilance on borders.
Moreover, authorities collaborated with UNICEF and Shakti Samuha, the first organsiation in Nepal to be established and run by survivors of trafficking, to spread information and awareness. A full list of all the actions undertaken in this project be found here.
But the complexity of trafficking cannot be understated.
The many ciphers of the trade
In the third week of July, a gang was caught trafficking 250 women from Nepal in the direction of the Gulf, with their accomplices including Air India officials, who were promised compensation equating to between $60 US and $80 US for every woman they got through the system.
While those Air India staff have been arrested, their involvement testifies to the multiplicity of actors at play in a typical trafficking scenario:
A structural problem
Human trafficking is deeply linked to poverty. One third of Nepal's GDP is made up of remittances. Migration is often seen as a family's only means of survival. From data collected in 2011, 35 percent of rural Nepali households have at lest one member of their family living and working abroad.
While campaigns have been pushed forward to educate vulnerable youth, Aidan McQuade, the Director of Anti-Slavery International points out the uncomfortable truth that this is not a situation wherein people are naive, but one wherein they are desperate. This is why much more is needed than mere awareness-raising work.
@khanalpratik The challenge is #migration. We must be able to convince the talented,devoted,patriotic,energetic #youths to hold in #Nepal.
— Dr.Bishnu Hari Nepal (@drbishnuhnepal) July 22, 2015
But it is not clear what economic opportunities a country already struggling before a tumultuous natural disaster might provide in its aftermath.
One change that must take place is in Nepali society itself, where victims are often blamed rather than comforted.
In one case, highlighted by the Guardian newspaper, a Nepali woman was sold into sex slavery in India. She later escaped the brothel where she was forced to work and took refuge in a shelter. Phoning her remote family home after the earthquake to check on the wellbeing of her relatives, her brothers did not acknowledge her, informing her she had dialled a wrong number.
Stories such as this and the story of Sapana, a girl saved from forced labour in a Kathmandu factory by the earthquake which destroyed it — only to narrowly escape the clutches of trafficking thanks to a local NGO — continue to recall the vulnerability of women and girls in Nepal.
We need to protect women + girls from #childmarriage in the aftermath of #NepalQuake! http://t.co/H70cjKDnlZ @thehimalayan #womensrights
— Babatunde Osotimehin (@BabatundeUNFPA) June 30, 2015
While over 500 people have been saved through collaboration between the government, civil society and India, morality demands that offering protection to those most vulnerable to the human trafficking scourge becomes Nepal's very highest priority.

author: Saprina Panday


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Public Prosecutor’s Office in Colombia to Monitor Twitter Accounts of Public Servants During Elections · Global Voices
Global Voices Latin America

¿Conoce irregularidades que atenten contra la transparencia o la seguridad de las #Elecciones2015? Denuncie en: http://t.co/fiNivGSeDQ
— Procuraduría General (@PGN_COL) July 25, 2015
Are you aware of any irregularities which might jeopardize the transparency or security of Elections 2015? Tell us here:
On October 25, Colombians head to the polls to elect governors, departmental assemblies, mayoral offices, municipal and district councils as well as administrative boards throughout the country. Since the electoral campaign began on July 25, public officials have been banned from using social media to support candidates.
Ante la proximidad de la jornada democrática en la que los colombianos elegirán gobernaciones, asambleas departamentales, alcaldías, concejos municipales y distritales y juntas administradoras locales, la Procuraduría General de la Nación insta a los colombianos a poner en conocimiento de las autoridades competentes las posibles irregularidades que puedan afectar la transparencia y seguridad de las elecciones.
As election day draws closer, a time when Colombians will democratically elect all governing bodies throughout the country, the Office of the Inspector General urges citizens to alert the relevant authorities of any irregularities which might affect the transparency and security of the electoral process.
According to the magazine Semana, the Inspector General's office will closely monitor the Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts of public servants in order to avoid any kind of political suasion. Likewise, they encouraged Colombians to make any reports of irregularities through social media or other means of communication.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Global Voices Latin America


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Summer is the Season for Fireworks in Japan · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

花火 (Fireworks) from 2013 Kobe “floating fireworks festival.” Photo courtesy Flickr user Xiaojun Deng. Photo licensed under CC BY 2.0.
The hot  months of July and August mean summer holidays for students, crowded trips back to the ancestral home for families and plenty of festivals all over Japan.
Fireworks are something everyone looks forward to in the summer months. Fireworks displays are often massive events all over Japan, and often last for at least an hour.
Fireworks festivals also provide an opportunity for highly-skilled artisans to compete and see which team can create the most elaborate display.
福井花火。
A photo posted by Fujio Kojima (@fujiwo) on
Fireworks in Fukui Prefecture. (August 1st, 2015)
家族で福井花火。
A photo posted by Fujio Kojima (@fujiwo) on
The family went to see the fireworks display. (August 1st, 2015)
There has been surprisingly little research on the history of fireworks in Japan. The practice is said to date back to the 16th century, and the introduction of firearms to Japan by Europeans.
Fireworks at Ryogoku Bridge, Sumida River in Edo – Hiroshige. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.
Some researchers suggest that the modern practice of holding massive fireworks displays in Japan dates back to a memorial service in the 17th century in Edo (now called Tokyo), to pay tribute to victims of famine and a cholera outbreak.
Indeed, while the summer months in Japan are a time to have fun at festivals and at the beach, fireworks festivals in Japan are typically held during or quite close to O-Bon, a time when many Japanese families remember the dead in mid-August.
Sometimes fireworks displays are included as part of O-Bon ceremonies.
In this video, as part of an O-Bon ceremony in mid-August, participants are preparing for toro-nagashi (灯籠流し), where paper lanterns are released down a flowing river. The laterns are said to guide the spirits of the dead back to the nether world.
Participants usually return to their family's ancestral  when taking part in the ceremony.
However, fireworks festivals are held in Japan throughout July and August, and are not always tied to the August O-Bon holiday.
PLA Art of Fireworks festival, Tondabayashi, Osaka.
Some parts of Japan also hold stupendous “fire festivals.” The small seaside community of Oi, about two hours north of Kyoto, holds an annual event each August that sees gigantic wooden torches set alight to create a spectacular blaze.
The O-Bon holiday does tend to make watching fireworks a family affair. Families return back to home towns to observe the O-Bon festival of the dead. Summertime is a time for families to get together, and watching fireworks together often becomes a treasured family memory.
#花火 #江戸川 #花火大会 #綺麗だった
A photo posted by Eri Hirakawa (@eringiccho) on
* #長良川#花火#祭り#花#浴衣#夏#岐阜#fireworks#flowers#summer#festival#yukata#gifu#japan
A photo posted by @marronkana1226 on

author: Nevin Thompson


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Taiwan’s Anti-Curriculum Change Campaign Intensifies Following Student Activist’s Death · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

High-school students expressed their condolences to the student who committed suicide in protest at curriculum changes. Photo from the Northern Area Student Alliance against Curriculum Changes.
On July 30, Guan-Hua Lin, 20, the former spokesperson of a student activist group protesting against high-school curriculum changes in Taiwan was found dead. Based on the initial police report  and a conversation between Lin and his friends, it is likely Lin committed suicide in protest at the changes.
Since Taiwan’s Minister of Education announced the new high-school curriculum in February 2014, education professionals and students alike have been protesting against its changes. The ministry was accused of violating procedural justice as the curriculum revision committee refused to disclose the details of the committee discussion and voting results to the public.
Even after a court ruled that the ministry should put the committee minutes and voting records to a public examination, the ministry insisted there is nothing wrong with the new curriculum.
The controversies mostly lie with the history curriculum. Many consider that the new curriculum recounts the history of Taiwan through a united-China perspective. Critics say the revision is a political move by the ruling Kuomintang party (KMT), designed to build support for reunification with the People's Republic of China (PRC).
Despite these dissenting voices, the ministry claimed that the new curriculum became effective on August 1, and that changes cannot be stopped as new textbooks have already been printed.
Student activists began to protest outside the Ministry of Education and ask it to withdraw the new curriculum in June. On July 23, 30 high-school students even broke into the building of Ministry of Education. They were arrested and promptly sued by the ministry.
One of the key student activist organisations responsible for mobilising the protest was the Northern Area Student Alliance against Curriculum Changes (NASAACC), which Guan-Hua Lin acts as spokesperson for.
Soon after they heard the news of Lin's suicide, hundreds of high-school students occupied the Ministry of Education. In addition to their original request, they asked legislators to review the curriculum changes. Although legislators from the Democratic Progressive Party and Taiwan Solidarity Union agreed to help them, they still need to gain support from KMT, which represents the ruling majority in the country's Legislative Yuan.
While some KMT politicians claim the opposition parties have over-politicized the curriculum changes and used the high-school students as pawns, NASAACC said such claims were designed to belittle the student's campaign.
They wrote in a press release:
今天，七月三十日是林冠華的生日，他只有一個願望，希望八月一日即將上路的課綱能夠被撤回，能夠讓台灣人的子弟，受一個具台灣主體性的教育，我們不禁會想：身為一個台灣人，這是一個很奢侈的願望嗎？身為一個台灣人，想更瞭解自身的歷史與文化，是很困難的請求嗎？
Today is Guan-Hua Lin’s birthday, July 30. He had only one hope: that the new curriculum that will be claimed as effective on August 1 could be withdrawn, so that we Taiwanese can receive an education based on a Taiwanese perspective. We cannot stop thinking: Is this hope a luxury hope for a Taiwanese? Is the request to allow Taiwanese to understand our own history and culture unfulfillable?
Another activist group mainly composed of history researchers, teachers, and human rights activists, the Anti-Blackboxed Curriculum Alliance (A-BCA), also urged the government to take responsibility and correct their mistakes:
對於高中生反黑箱課綱、要求對話，教育部長吳思華一面龜縮、逃避、不敢面對，一面強硬堅持黑箱課綱8月上路。學生多次抗議，訴諸和平理性的各種方法，都無法獲得教育部回應，學生們被迫採取激烈的占領行動。學生們的努力，換來教育部的提告，如今竟然有學生不幸自殺身亡，令人心痛不已！
學生們的想法很單純：大人有錯，為何不承認、不道歉，竟然強詞奪理、蠻幹到底。年輕人基於義憤，無法忍受如此是非不分的情況。但是，我們要告訴學生們，犯錯的是執政當局，應該由執政者自己出來面對與善後。你們已經努力了，不應該再為這個爛透了的政府，付出超出你們能力能夠承擔的代價。
Facing the students’ request for discussing the black-boxed curriculum, the Minister of Education, Shi-Hua Wu, just turned his back toward the students and insisted to make the black-boxed curriculum effective in Aug. Students have tried to protest in peaceful ways, but the Minister of Education did not respond. In the end, students tried furious measures and occupied the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Education decided to sue these students. Now it is heartbreaking to see a protesting student commit suicide!
What these students think is very simple: If adults make mistakes, why don’t they acknowledge and apologize, and why do they do whatever they want to do just because they have the power to do so? These young people are angry because they cannot accept a condition whereby none of us can differentiate right from wrong. Now we want to tell the students: It is this government who makes mistakes, and this government should face the situation and solve the problems. You have made a lot of effort, and you should not overpay for trying to solve the problems that are made by this damn government.
Although the debate over new curriculum changes is Taiwan's internal affairs, the PRC government has cast its shadow over the issue. Three years ago when the Ministry of Education considered amending the school curriculum, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council of China expressed its support for curriculum changes.
The Beijing body, which oversees its relation with Taiwan, claimed the move could “make things right” by retelling Taiwanese history from a united-China perspective, thereby eliminating pro-independence thoughts that might “mislead” the young generation in Taiwan.
After high-school students in Taiwan started to protest curriculum changes in June, several newspapers in China criticized the protesting students for making use of the campaign in order to advocate for Taiwan's independence.
On July 30, when the president of the PRC, Xi Jinping, spoke at a conference of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, he also mentioned that Taiwan and China should write their history books together in order to protect Chinese pride and dignity.

author: I-fan Lin


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14 Journalists From Veracruz, Mexico Have Been Murdered During Governor Duarte’s Rule · Global Voices
Mas de 131

Image of Mexican photojournalist Rubén Espinosa, who was found dead and showing signs of torture. Retrieved from Espinosa's Twitter account @espinosafoto.
Mexico's leading free speech organization Artículo 19, announced that photojournalist Rubén Espinosa was found dead on Friday, July 31. Espinosa worked as a correspondent in the Mexican state of Veracruz for the magazine Proceso, Agencia Cuartoscuro, and AVC Noticias.
Along with Espinosa, four women were also killed in a Mexico City apartment in the middle-class neighborhood of Narvarte, one of them Nadia Vera, an activist from Veracruz.
#Mexico: Photojournalist Ruben Espinosa murdered – #JusticiaParaRuben http://t.co/u5lalBtLxT
— ARTICLE 19 (@article19org) August 3, 2015
#ALERTA: El caso de Rubén Espinosa es el primero en el que un periodista desplazado internamente es asesinado. http://t.co/52cOWchZMo
— ARTICLE 19 MX-CA (@article19mex) August 2, 2015
Attention: The Rubén Espinosa case is the first in that an internally displaced journalist is murdered.
After having received threats, the photographer fled from Veracruz to Mexico City in June of this year with the purpose of protecting his integrity.
Espinosa's death makes him the fourteenth journalist after Regina Martínez, Goyo Jiménez, Moisés Sánchez, Víctor Manuel Báez, Irasema Becerra, Guillermo Luna, Gabriel Huge, Esteban Rodríguez, Noel López Olguin, Miguel Ángel López, Misael López, Yolanda Ordaz, and Armando Saldaña to have been murdered during the administration of Veracruz's governor, Javier Duarte de Ochoa, who took office in December 2010. So far there has only been one arrest, for the murder of Regina Martínez.
“I left after having received several threats […] Veracruz is a lawless state,” Espinosa said in his last interview on July 9 with Rompeviento TV.
According to Artículo 19, the day before his attack, he headed the formal replacement of an honorary plaque for Regina Martínez, a journalist who was slain on April 28, 2012 in Xalapa, the capital city of Veracruz. As of this moment, three journalists have fallen in Xalapa, all of which have occurred during the Duarte administration.
On August 1, the Mexican newspaper, El Universal, reported that five bodies were found in the Mexico City neighborhood of Narvarte in a building on Zempoala Street; one of them was that of Espinosa.
Family members, who had already reported him missing, identified the journalist's body, which displayed hits to the face and bullet wounds. All the victims received a shot in the head.
According to Proceso, in September 2013, state police had beaten Espinosa in Xalapa while he was documenting the violent removal of CNTE members from Plaza Lerdo. In addition, police forced him to erase from his camera's memory card all of the photographic material that had been taken that day.
Now in Mexico City, Rubén Espinosa was invited to participate in the Periodistas de a Pie program, which was transmitted on the internet television station, Rompeviento TV.
On the program, he denounced the constant threats against him and that of other journalists in Veracruz; and for that reason, he decided to leave the city where he had lived for seven years.
The late journalist stated that:
“Las condiciones son malas para todos los periodistas en Veracruz” .
“The conditions are bad for all journalists in Veracruz.”
He also denounced the criminalization which he fell victim to for having participated in the remembrance of Regina Martínez: “We have a group of colleagues that have called us guerrillas for installing a [honorary] plaque for Regina Martínez.”
On the other hand, there is audio circulating the internet via SoundCloud, in which the voice of Javier Duarte can presumably be heard in a meeting in the city of Poza Rica, Veracruz. The governor “advises” journalists to stay away from organized crime rings, and indicates that if “something happens to you”, it is for having been engaged in close proximity to these criminal groups.
He also stated that:
Es atractivo, es seductor en muchas ocasiones tener la primicia, tener la nota que uno de estos grupos criminales nos dé para poder publicarla, y poder ganar la nota y para poder asegurar la noticia pero créanme quien se mete con estas gentes generalmente termina mal.
On many occasions it's appealing and seductive to get the first news, to get the story that one of those criminal groups gives us to publish, and to be able to get that story and secure the news. But believe me, it normally ends badly for those who get involved with these people.
In the audio, the governor speaks to the journalists with an alleged petition: “…for your families, but also for me and mine; if something happens to you, I'm the one that gets crucified […] behave appropriately; we all know who's walking on the wrong side of the tracks.”
In addition, Duarte mentions that he knows who has close ties with organized crime: “We all know who has ties with these groups in one way or another; let us play the dumb card […] I ask you, please, to behave appropriately.” He then ends his speech with a threat:
Vamos a sacudir el árbol y se van a caer muchas manzanas podridas, yo espero verdaderamente, se los digo de corazón que ningún colaborador, ningún trabajador de los medios de comunicación se vea afectado por esta situación, y solamente se van a ver afectados quiénes de alguna u otra manera tienen una vinculación con estos grupos criminales. No hay que confundir libertad de expresión con representar la expresión de los delincuentes a través de los medios (…), vamos a sacudir fuertemente el árbol.
We're going to shake the tree and many rotten apples are going to fall. I truly hope, I say this from the heart, that no collaborator nor media professional will be affected by this situation, and that the only ones that will be are those who have ties one way or another to these criminal groups. We should not confuse freedom of expression with representing the voice of criminals via the media […] we're going to fiercely shake the tree.
Also in statements, the governor removes himself from any responsibility: “As the saying goes: fair warning leaves no room for surprises. I told you both openly and beforehand […] therefore, I ask nothing more of you—it's the only thing I ask—other than to behave appropriately. Don't stray off the path; don't get wrapped up in this matter.”
Based on the governor's words, Espinosa claimed that it was indeed a threat meant for all journalists in Veracruz.
The murder of the five individuals shook Mexico's capital journalists; hundreds gathered at the Ángel de la Independencia, one of the most recognizable landmarks in Mexico City. A long time has passed since witnessing such a heavily attended protest. Perhaps this time because it hits closer to home seeing as how it took place in the nation's capital city. “It's getting closer each time,” says a colleague from the newspaper Reforma.
Protest outside the Veracruz government headquarters in Mexico City for the death of five individuals, among them, Rubén Espinosa and Nadia Vera. Next to the gate on the right it reads: “It was you Duarte”, alluding to the Veracruz governor. Photo: Eduardo Velasco Vásquez from More that 131.
Civil society also joined in by demanding justice, which also included that for Nadia Vera, an activist dedicated to Veracruz culture. She formed part of the collective #Yosoy132Xalapa [I am 132 Xalapa]. She was described as being a courageous woman and a critic of Duarte's administration. She emphasized on the state's violence several times in various interviews, and that the population finds itself among the harassment from drug traffickers and the omissions and impunity of the government. She even ensured collusion between the two.
People also spoke up for Yesenia Quiroz, who was a domestic worker from Colombia; for the moment this is the only known information about her. Both Quiroz and Vera were tortured and murdered in an apartment in the neighborhood Narvarte. The Mexico City authorities said that they would exhaust all possible lines of investigation, always stressing upon the point that the apartment had been robbed.
Therefore, journalist Témoris Grego made the demand during the protest that the first line of investigation be Espinosa's journalistic work.
In the last 15 years, we found that the murder of only one Mexico City journalist had been reported; it appeared in the newspaper Excélsior on November 15, 2006 by reporter José Manuel Nava.
The protest turned into a march. A silent and rainy march all the way to the Veracruz representation headquarters in Mexico City. While there, the rain intensified, but not before having cried Durate a “murderer”.

author: Mas de 131


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A Fistful of Viral Video Stars from Central Asia · Global Voices
Akhal-Tech Collective

Dog fighting, whether filmed inside or outside the region, is one of several viral video genres that are popular in Central Asia. Wiki image.
Like almost any other region in the world, post-Soviet Central Asia is no stranger to the viral video. The Harlem Shake shook its way through the region two years ago and dog fighting videos are as popular here as they are anywhere else on the Asian continent.
Despite being relative latecomers to the game, some of the countries have managed to build up quite an archive of domestically-sourced viral footage. Generally in languages other than English, this content gets little play beyond the Runet, or Russian-speaking Internet, but can serve as a talking point for local internet users for months on end.
Global Voices looks at some of the personalities that have lit up the regional internet for reasons good and bad in recent years.
With the region's fastest internet and biggest proportion of users it makes sense that Kazakhstan produces its fair share of popular clips.
One, with over 3,000,000 views, dates back to 2013, and shows an eight-year-old girl boxer with incredibly fast reflexes being trained by her father. Two years on, a follow-up clip indicates that she has improved and is now menacingly quick. Her father Rustam believes she will be ready for the ring in five years.
But the viral star that has grabbed most attention among local users in 2015 is MC Sailaubek, a rapping sensation from the mean streets of provincial city Atyrau in remote western Kazakhstan.
Sailaubek does not riff in any particular language but his YouTube debut in February was enough to propel him from complete obscurity to national stardom overnight, with the broader Russian speaking Internet also standing up and taking notice.
According to one internet user that claims to know Sailaubek's family, there is a sad story behind his rasping raps:
Разговаривала с семьей Сайлаубека и с ним лично. Итог разговора с его семьей: человек болен, его надо лечить, и поэтому старшая сестра категорически против, чтобы он куда-либо ехал. Семья Сайлаубека интеллигентная: старшая сестра преподаватель, старший брат академик, младший брат достаточно известная творческая личность в Атырау. В трезвом состоянии Сайлаубек очень скромный, стеснительный и неразговорчивый. Не женатый и нигде не работает и не работал. В молодости он получил сильную травму головы, и с тех пор он адекватный временами. Сестра со слезами на глазах говорила, что местные балыкшинские (район Атырау) ребята наливают Сайлаубеку водки и потом издеваются над ним, снимая на видео. После 50 граммов водки Сайлаубек совершенно меняется. Дорогие сообщники, давайте прекратим издеваться над ним.
I talked with the family of Sailaubek and him personally. In conclusion, this person is sick, requires treatment, and therefore his older sister is categorically against him going anywhere. Sailaubek's family is intelligent: the elder sister is a teacher, his elder brother an academic, his younger brother a well-known creative type in Atyrau. When sober Sailaubek is very modest, shy and taciturn, unmarried and unemployed. In his youth he received a severe head injury, and ever since he is only normal part of the time. His sister said tearfully that the local guys pour vodka for Sailaubek and then mock him, shooting videos of him. After 50 grams of vodka Sailaubek completely changes. Dear associates, let's stop mocking him.
But this version is belied by Sailaubek himself who seems to be completely thriving in his newfound status. In the last few months he has released a cover of Here Comes the Hotstepper, and entered into a war of words with Russian MC Timati, a bona-fide rapper from Russia, whom Sailaubek accused of rhyme-stealing and challenged to a rap battle.
Timati responded to Sailaubek magnanimously on Instagram, doubtless adding a few Kazakhs to his 2.7 million followers.
Arguably Sailaubek's greatest honour to date came on April 29 as one voter cast a vote for him at the weakly contested presidential elections. In the end, the ballot was declared despoiled and 75-year-old incumbent autocrat Nursultan Nazarbayev took 97.7% of the vote.
Internet use and social sharing took off fairly rapidly in Kyrgyzstan following the country's ‘Tulip Revolution’ in 2005, and YouTube videos were a key element in retelling the chaos of the country's second revolution five years ago.
However, although political violence never fails to bring in views, one of Kyrgyzstan's most heralded stars of the internet is this unnamed toddler who seems to have a bright future as a musical conductor ahead of her:
Another sensation worth checking out is Eldana Foureyes, Kyrgyzstan's most popular Instagrammer, who makes highly creative short clips that offer a snippet of life as a girl in Kyrgyz society.
Tajikistan
There is only one outstanding viral video star from Tajikistan and it isn't this one-hit wonder who recorded a bizarre ode to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the run-up to the presidential elections in Russia.
It is ‘Tajik Jimmy’ who like millions of migrants from the world's most remittance-dependent country worked as a menial labourer in Russia, but unlike almost everyone else in the world, could do this:
‘Jimmy’ whose real name is Baimurat Allaberiyev, became a sensation when his rendition of a song from Bollywood blockbuster Disco Dancer hit the internet in 2009. He was subsequently invited on to Russian chat shows and profiled by the New York Times, who wrote:
…the voice seems to come out of nowhere — a clear, warbling Hindi falsetto, complete with percussion and twanging sitar solos. For an impoverished boy growing up on a Tajik collective farm, there was no greater pleasure than Bollywood films, which were approved by the Communist Party as a politically safe diversion. Mr. Allaberiyev’s family understood that he had a gift; by the age of 7 or 8, he could commit songs to memory and repeat them with eerie accuracy, after watching a movie twice.
Since the days of his early fame, Allaberiyev has married a St. Petersburg local and has earned money as a minor stage performer. The last online Russian news report referencing Allaberiyev was dated June 29. In it his official manager suggested the star had gone missing and was not contactable. Hopefully he has since been found.
Turkmenistan
This chap might be somewhat more familiar than the other viral video stars. He is Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and a man surrounded by a blossoming personality cult that has already seen him erect a gold leaf statue to himself on horseback and receive titles such as ‘Protector’ and ‘Peoples’ Horse breeder of Turkmenistan’.
It is Berdymukhamedov's love for horses that got him into a spot of bother in the video below. Here, shortly after winning a race he was probably not allowed to lose, he is filmed vaulting over the horse and face-planting on the ground.
The tragedy of Turkmenistan's totalitarian state is that there are few competitors to the president in the viral video stakes. In a country where his image and persona dominate public life completely, it can only ever be about him.
Uzbekistan
Similarly to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan is a very closed country, whose main international newsmakers are longtime dictator Islam Karimov and his feuding family. In fact, despite failing to trouble Shakira elder daughter Gulnara's music videos have racked up quite a lot of views on YouTube.
But Gulnara, who is currently under house arrest — apparently with her father's consent — might be disappointed to know that Uzbekistan's youth football team are far more of a web sensation than she is. Following a far more than feisty encounter with their colleagues from South Korea, they earned the moniker ‘Football's Most Violent Team’. It looks like a description well-earned:

author: Akhal-Tech Collective


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‘Films for Action’ Website Shares List of Top 100 Documentaries ‘We Can Use to Change the World’ · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

After years of promotion and reviews of documentaries devoted to social change, the site Films for Action released a list of what they consider to be the 100 most influencial and provocative. From critiques to manistream media to the corporate world, passing through the ideas and solutions proposed in and by the majority world, this list of films present a wide view of ideas that many consider crucial to discuss.
The list includes documentaries like The Economics of Happiness (2011), which will be available for free in August, and The Crisis of Civilization (2011), based on the Book by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed.
Documentaries have an incredible power to raise awareness and create transformative changes in consciousness both at the personal and global levels […] All of the films have been selected because they are either free to watch online, or can be rented online. There are several films we would have loved to add to this list, but they currently don't have an accessible way to view them. As that changes, we'll be updating this list over time. Enjoy!

author: Laura Vidal


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#HackingTeam Leaks: Ecuador is Spending Millions on Malware, Pro-Government Trolls · Global Voices
Guest Contributor

Citizens demonstrate against President Correa in Quito. Photo by Agencia de Noticias ANDES via Flickr (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Written by Samuel Woolley
Three Ecuadorian media sites experienced incapacitating online attacks last month, just minutes after they published evidence of an association between the Ecuadorian government and the surveillance technology company Hacking Team.
News and commentary websites including Plan V and Gkillcity, along with the media freedom group Fundación Milhojas reported that their sites suffered DDoS attacks shortly after they pointed to documents leaked from the massive hack of Hacking Team’s systems. According to the exposed emails, which have since been published on WikiLeaks, the Ecuadorian government paid over half a million dollars to the beleaguered Italian company for subscription to Remote Control System, a software package used for wide-ranging digital surveillance.
The Hacking Team scandal has implicated the governments of numerous countries across the globe in large-scale domestic digital surveillance. Several other nations in Latin America appear on clientele lists exposed in the hack as well, with Mexico leading as Hacking Team’s top client worldwide. According to Colombian news weekly Semana, the Ecuadorian government paid an Israeli firm $5.5 million for similar surveillance technology in 2012.
Many local and regional media outlets have covered the Correa government’s attempts to “wage a social media counterattack” against the opposition, citizens the president has named ‘defamers.’ Streams of pro-government propaganda, anti-opposition trolls, and hashtag spamming are all part of what journalists and online activists have deemed ‘Twitter Gate’,  a politically-motivated social media spin campaign dating back to 2012. Several prominent media voices in the country have pointed to the existence of government-sponsored troll centers and denounced their existence. Calls for clarity on government trolling campaigns from regime critic and former congressman Fernando Balda revealed information relating to numerous Twitter accounts allegedly built expressedly to support the current administration.
In July 2014, several vocal opponents of the Correa government had their Twitter accounts suspended. Multiple media outlets soon after reported on critics’ assertions that Juan Carlos Vascones, CEO of the Ecuadorian company Ximah Digital, had engineered the suspensions. Vascones reportedly has ties to the government and also serves as a representative for Twitter’s partner in Ecuador, IMSCorp. Both Vascones and Ximah Digital are associated with Ribeney SA, a private company that allegedly serves as a social media troll center in the capital city of Quito. Official documents prove that Ecuador’s Ministry of Strategic Sectors signed a social media strategy contract with Ribeney in 2013.
Media freedom advocates in the country see the attacks as part of a broader trend. Since 2013, critics of sitting president Rafael Correa have grown increasingly concerned with restrictions on Internet access, online surveillance, and government-sponsored social media propaganda. Censorship and threats directed at prominent online activists, bloggers, and opposition leaders along with periodic allegations of social media manipulation reflect Correa’s firm policies against reporting that is critical of the government. At the beginning of 2015, the president released Somos+, a website dedicated to directly responding to the government’s detractors on social media. The site invites Correa supporters to subscribe to an alert service that will notify them each time a Twitter user “smears” the government. It urges them to then respond and “support the Citizen’s Revolution.”
Correa’s administration is pursuing this agenda via multiple channels. Authorities have used intellectual property and criminal defamation laws to curb freedom of speech among journalists and detractors, and in recent years, several journalists and opposition members have been jailed for speaking out against the government.
According to researchers, the upswing in the Ecuadorian government use of social media to influence public conversations and media coverage correlates with a similar rise in government-driven trolling by governments worldwide. Media watchdogs, activists and academics have been closely watching the rise Twitter propaganda in Latin American countries including Mexico, Argentina, and Venezuela.
Recent reports suggest that the use of automated computer programs, often integral to both DDoS attacks and social media manipulation, continues to grow in Ecuador. Several have called for an end to political attempts at using social bot technology to manipulate public opinion, but for now there is no clear end in sight.
Samuel Woolley works with the Political Bots Project and the Digital Activism Research Project. He is a PhD student at the University of Washington in the US.

author: Guest Contributor


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Iran to Partially Lift Ban on BBC · Global Voices
Mahsa Alimardani

BBC Persian is a popular news source in Iran, however it cannot operate inside the country. Photo taken by Stuart Pinfold. Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Iran's Tasnim news agency has reported an announcement by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance about lifting the ban on BBC operations inside of Iran. The Ministry is responsible for Iran's domestic and foreign press regulations.
The news comes in an interview a Ministry spokesperson gave to Tasnim, whereby they declared a group of Dutch-born BBC journalists will soon enter to country for a BBC World special coverage report. The spokesperson also announced that the decision has been made in consultation with the country's intelligence and police forces.
The Ministry later clarified in an interview with the Associated Press (AP) that the change would last temporarily only for BBC World's special coverage. The BBC also told AP that they had not heard from the Iranian government on the new decision.
BBC Persian is a popular satellite and online news source for many Iranians inside the country. BBC Persian service has been banned from operating inside Iran since 2009 after authorities accused BBC of inciting unrest during the 2009 Green Movement.
The BBC Persian and English websites are both blocked inside Iran. BBC Persian online was first blocked in 2006, and its broadcasts are viewed on illegal satellites.

author: Mahsa Alimardani


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The Biggest Threat to Mexican Journalists Aren’t Drug Cartels Anymore · Global Voices
Periodismo en las Américas

Journalists protest in front of a Veracruz government building. Veracruz continues to be one of the most dangerous regions to practice journalism because of the number of murders that have occurred there. Photo taken from the Flickr account of CimacNoticias Agency under Creative Commons license.
This post by Mariana Muñoz was originally published originally on the blog Journalism in the Americas and is republished here with permission.
In the last decade, Mexico has become one of the most dangerous countries of the world for journalists, largely due to the so-called War on Drugs in the northern region that borders the United States.
Press freedom advocacy organizations, however, noticed a change in the geography of attacks against journalists, which are increasingly becoming more common in Mexico's southern states. They also noticed that the suspects behind the attacks are not members of drug cartels, but public officials and police officers.
This year, so far, there have been six cases of journalists being murdered – all were killed in Mexico's south. In one week this July, three journalists were killed in Oaxaca, Veracruz and Guanajuato – all southern states.
Statistics from Periodistas en Riesgo, a site that tracks and documents attacks against journalists in Mexico, seems to confirm this trend.
Javier Garza Ramos, an International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) Knight International Journalism Fellow who oversees Periodistas en Riesgo, recently wrote an article for El País where he explores the shift of violence from the north to the south.
Garza explains that the shift occurred because, in general, violence in the north decreased (with the exception of Tamaulipas) and shifted attention to the increasing incidents in the central and southern states.
In an interview with the Knight Center, Garza stated that there is a misconception on who is doing the most harm, however.
According to Garza, attention has been largely focused on attacks against journalists by cartel members because they have been the most dramatic in the manner in which they attack. Consequently, cartel members are seen as the main aggressors toward journalists.
Garza argues that this is not true.
“They are the ones who attack more violently, but in quantitative terms, they are not the ones who attack the most,” he said.
According to Garza, public officials and police officers are responsible for most of the attacks toward journalists. The manner and intensity of attacks vary, ranging from threats and intimidation to kidnapping, beatings and homicides.
Freedom of expression in Mexico has taken a hit in recent years. Journalists in this country face threats from public officials and members of organized crime, leading to injuries and in some cases, death.
“Organized crime violence has started to decrease in northern regions like Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, compared to 2010 and 2011. Tamaulipas is the only exception,” he said.
A recent event recorded by La Crónica appears to demonstrate the trend of public officials threatening or attacking journalists.
Daniel Blancas, reporter for La Cronica, was sent to the municipality of Almoloya de Juarez in the state of Mexico to investigate the escape from prison of Mexico’s biggest drug lord, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, also known as El Chapo. His job was to interview Calixto Estrada Castillo, the last owner of the house that served as the end point for Guzmán Loera's escape tunnel.
After being questioned and prohibited from entering the premises, Blancas says he received a threat: “Cemeteries are full of journalists like you!”
According to Huellas de Mexico, the threat was made by Jorge Peña, an official with the Office of the Attorney General in Zinacantepec.
According to the first bi-annual report of 2015 by Article 19 titled, “Más violencia, más silencio” (“More violence, more silence”), 227 attacks against the press were recorded in the first six months of 2015. This is substantially higher than the average during Felipe Calderón’s administration from 2006 to 2012, which was about 182 per year, the report added.
The report also discussed the six murders of journalists that have occurred since January 2015, all in the southern part of the country.
Three of the six murders have occurred in Veracruz, located in the southeastern portion of the country on the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico.
Even though the state of Guerrero has the highest number of overall attacks toward journalists (38), Veracruz continues to be one of the most dangerous regions to practice journalism because of the number of murders that have occurred there, according to Animal Politico.
In a BBC Mundo article, the state is referred to as “hell for journalists.”
Eighteen journalists have been murdered there since 2000 and 12 of these murders (14, according to other sources) have been recorded under the administration of current governor Javier Duarte, according to Article 19.
A documentary titled,  “Death in Veracruz” produced by the all-digital channel AJ+, explores the manner in which the lives of journalists in Veracruz have changed, working under threat in recent years.
In 2011, the municipal police in Veracruz were dismantled due to alleged corruption and the fact that the army began to carry out their duties.
Self-defense groups, upset with the ineffectiveness of police, formed in the state.
Félix Márquez, a photojournalist in Veracruz, documented the groups.
“The authorities don’t want to recognize that these groups exist,”  he said. “I don’t know why they don’t like to talk about the self-defense groups. However, our job is to document them and prove they exist.”
Márquez said he was threatened over his photos of the self-defense groups.
“The Secretary of Public Security made a statement saying that I should be in prison,” he said in the documentary.
“Death in Veracruz” also explores the case of José Moisés Sánchez Cerezo, a journalist who was killed in Veracruz on January 2.
Sánchez founded the daily La Unión in the municipality of Medellín de Bravo in Veracruz to inform the community about things that were not reported by other news outlets.
Often reporting on police corruption, Sánchez was intimidated by public officials, and, in one instance, received word that the mayor was planning to scare him, according to the documentary.
Sánchez was abducted from his home on January 2; his lifeless body was found in Veracruz in the early hours of January 24. Many believe that the mayor, Omar Cruz, ordered his kidnapping and murder.
Jorge Sánchez, son of Moisés, continues to seek justice for the death of his father.
“There are many irregularities in this investigation,” he said in the documentary. “These are the same anomalies that exist in all the investigations of journalists’ murders.”
After the murder, police officers were assigned to monitor the Sanchez’s home—a method of protection for the family. A barbed wire fence was placed around the home.
“One would think that the other people are the ones who should be locked away, not us,” Jorge Sánchez said in the documentary. “But this is how things work here—the criminals roam free and we are the ones who have to be locked in.”
Impunity is a problem in Mexico where crimes against journalists are rarely punished. The country ranks seventh in the Committee to Protect Journalist’s 2014 Global Impunity Index. Additionally, critics have pointed to serious problems with the federal protection mechanism for journalists who are in danger.

author: Periodismo en las Américas


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10 Months On, Families March Across Mexico in Search of Missing Ayotzinapa Students · Global Voices
Sin Embargo

Relatives and classmates of the 43 march once again, 10 months since the disappearance of the teaching students of Ayotzinapa. Photo: Francisco Cañedo, SinEmbargo.
This article by Sergio Rincón was originally published on Sin Embargo and is reproduced here under a partnership agreement.
Relatives, students and activists announced two caravans will travel across Mexico from the north and south starting July 31 with the goal of joining forces and calling on more Mexicans to join the search for the 43 missing students of the Escuela Normal Rural Raúl Isidro Burgos (Raúl Isidro Burgos Rural Teachers’ College) in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero.
The students disappeared on September 26 of last year in Iguala, presumably at the hands of municipal police.
Since then, national and international human rights organizations have investigated and requested that the Attorney General of Mexico widen the investigation into the missing students and open new lines of investigation, including calling in military personnel to testify.
Families and advocacy groups maintain allegations of the presence of military personnel during the disappearance should be investigated, but the Mexican Army refuses to allow Ayotzinapa parent-investigators onto military bases. Prosecutors maintain that there is a lack of evidence of military involvement for them to pursue that line of investigation.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights named a group of international experts contributing to the investigation, who made detailed recommendations this past April. However, human rights organizations and experts have not had success.
Over the last week, the National Human Rights Commission raised many flaws and omissions in the ministerial investigation on the part of Mexican Attorney General and the State Prosecutor of Guerrero. The head of the special unit of the Iguala Case, José Larrieta, along with the national Ombudsman, Luis Raúl Pérez Gonzáles, recommended that Mexican authorities explore new lines of investigation.
One new line of investigation is that the attack on the students could have happened in Pueblo Viejo and the La Parota (locations in the vicinity of Iguala) “as there are reports of a clearly identified individual who could provide information related of the disappearance of the students”. As well as there being allusions to other individuals, known only by their last names, who have yet to be investigated.
Hundreds of demonstrators took to the Paseo de la Reforma, a wide avenue that runs diagonally across the heart of Mexico City, as part of the day of protests, demanding the return of the students alive. Civil organizations and trade unions planned a demonstration at 4 pm to remind the authorities that a day like today, 10 months ago, after being held by police from Iguala, the students disappeared.
The demonstrators arrived at Hemiciclo a Juárez, a monument erected to honor former president Benito Juárez and located in Mexico City's historic center, where they held a rally with relatives of the 43. There they demanded justice so that the military personnel involved in the cases of Iguala, Tlatlaya and Ostula would be punished. “The army is performing extra judicial executions”, was heard at the protest.
“The Mexican Army murdered a boy in Michoacán, this is the same army that took our children. Therefore we demand you open up the [military] bases to the team of experts from Argentina”, said Felipe De La Cruz, spokesperson for the parents of the students.
De La Cruz mentioned that the government's historical truth has become “the country's historical lie”.
The movement that is demanding the search for the 43 announced that on July 31, two informative caravans will be set up. One in the northern states that will begin in Chihuahua, and another to the south of Mexico that will begin in Chiapas.
“We want to join together, to join the cause with organizations and society”, they put forward.
The northern caravan will also cover the states of Coahuila, Durango, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, and Jalisco. The southern caravan will pass through Michoacán, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Morelos, Estado de México, Distrito Federal and finish up in Guerrero.
Throughout the rally, the parents of the families stated that for the last 10 months they have lived through hell, but thanks to the support of many Mexicans, they have the strength to go out and demand justice “because we cannot remain silent in a country where the authorities say that nothing has happened”, said a relative of the students.
They also put forward that they would not allow elections to go ahead in Iguala, nor would they allow the presence of armed forces in the town.
“There will be no elections until they open the barracks to the experts”, one woman said.
Prior to the rally and protest, a march was organized at the anti monument +43 where parents of the families warned that if anything happens to their children, it will be President Enrique Peña Nieto who is responsible.
The day of protests over the students’ 10 month disappearance began on August 2 in the state of Guerrero, with protests from intellectuals, relatives, and classmates of the students.
In the country's capital, a conference was held at the Hemiciclo a Juárez, where protesters demanded the return of the students alive, and also that they ensure that the recent report from the National Human Rights Commission shows that the official version of events seeks to conclude the parents’ movement to find their children.
“Today they ask us to go home and get over the pain. We say to them: we will not go home until our children are returned”, declared Vidulfo Rosales Sierra, lawyer from the Centre of Human Rights of Mount Tlachinollan.
In another act of solidarity, cyclists rode from Hemiciclo a Juárez to the Attorney General of Mexico with protest banners and photos of the 43 students.

author: Sin Embargo


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Despite Millions of Recruits, Criticism of China’s Online Civilization Army Mounts · Global Voices
Jack Hu

During the Cultural Revolution, the red guards persecuted others in the name of patriotism and class struggle. Historical photo.
After an online argument of a pro-government troll or “civilization volunteer” escalated into a well publicized offline street fight, many people started voicing their criticism of the Chinese Communist Party's strategy in manipulating public opinions.
Hou Jusen, a college student from Shandong Province's Weihai city is one of the approximately 18 million “civilization volunteers” the China Communist Youth League has recruited to “spread positive energy” online since February 2015.
Hou like other civilization volunteers was recruited young and is rewarded in exchange for posting pro-government and pro-Communist party comments online. Huo participated in an “online propaganda training” organized by the Shandong branch of the Communist Youth League from June 29 to July 2. A few weeks later, Hou picked a quarrel with another teenager online. The two boys fixed a date to settle the score in person. On July 22, they fought in front of a college in the city.
Soon after, members of the China Communist Youth League framed the quarrel as a “patriotic youth” injured by an unidentified mob for expressing his love of country. Pro-government media outlets also depicted Hou as the victim of online bullying that escalated into real-life violence. But some netizens dug his online record to prove that Hou is a troll himself.
On July 24, Wendeng district police closed the case by ordering six individuals to spend seven to 15 days in detention. Hou was detained for 10 days. The police investigation triggered another round of debate.
A local newspaper interviewed Hou and explained how he turned into a troll. The feature story was headlined on the popular Twitter-like Chinese micro-blogging service Weibo:
【爱国青年谈被打前后：骂人都是跟对方学的】山东爱国青年谈被打前后时称，常与网友因爱国言论骂战，自己照片多次被恶搞；和女友均遭人肉搜索，导致户籍信息被泄露，女友与其分手；低俗骂人贴是复制别人的话，骂人都是跟对方学的。其父亲称，警方对儿子判罚太重，影响当兵。
[Before and after the patriotic youth was beaten: I learned how to speak nasty from others] Before and after the patriotic youth from Shandong got beaten, he claimed that he always squabbled with other netizens for his patriotism. Because of that his photos have been parodied for many times. He and his girlfriend had been subjected to flesh search and their private information were revealed, leading to their breakup. His nasty comments just copied others’ and his abuse just learned from others. His father worried police’s punishment on Hou was too harsh and would affect his joining into the army.
Among thousands of comments under the post on Weibo, the majority thought Hou deserved the administrative detention.
Since Hou posts pro-government and pro-Communist party comments online in exchange for monetary or non-material gains, as an online civilization volunteer,  critics wondered whether people like him are even patriotic.
Some believed that patriotic trolls like Hou could lead to frenzy nationalism and suggested disbanding the Communist Youth League. The organization's network covers all levels from towns to province, from schools to state-run companies, with the major political task of mobilizing millions of youth to follow the party.
A Weibo poll on whether Hou should have been punished in administrative detention indicated that the civilization volunteer program has failed to win broad public support. “Special investigator” reported on the result of the poll:
投票【山东文登警方对侯聚森行政处罚是否适当？】持续22小时，参与人数7000。高达85.7%的群众支持警方，表明共青团及其网络宣传队干预司法的企图不得民心。7.2%抱怨警方未考虑侯聚森的所谓爱国青年身份，3.4%表示共青团还是算根葱的，警方应该给点面子。对于这10.5%的革命群众，我表示真的醉了。
Poll on [Whether Wendang police's administration detention of Hou Jusen is appropriate?] In 22 hours, around 7000 has voted. 85.7% supported the police, showing the Communist Youth League and its propaganda team didn’t win the public opinion. 7.2% complained that the police should consider the identity of Hou as a patriotic youth. 3.4% believed that the police should give face to Communist Youth League.  The 10.5% [the adding up of 7.2% and 3.4%] revolutionary mass is unbelievable.
Zhou Ze, a famous lawyer echoed disbanding the League:
这是想推动解散各级团组织吗？我完全同意。花纳税人钱的组织里面，最无所事事的就是各级团组织了！无事不免生非，解散了正好！
Is it a drive to disband the Communist Youth League? I definitely agree. The most idling organizations among those agencies spending taxpayers’ money are all levels of Youth League! Much Ado About Nothing. Disbanding is the best!
Hu Yong, a professor with Peking University, also denounced Communist Youth League for imposing inappropriate political pressure on the local police. He criticized their members for acting like the Red Guards who had cruelly persecuted others in the name of patriotism during the Cultural Revolution half a century ago:
昨天你闹得欢，今天我拉清单。共青团中央沦陷，约八成省级共青团沦陷，大量基层团委沦陷，前仆后继，豪壮激越，俨然新时期的红卫兵。江西、安徽、甘肃、青海、云南、贵州、吉林和河南等省鸡血指数位居前列，青海最猛，贵州最萌。在警方通报调查结论后，无一回应，未现反思。我谴责共青团
Yesterday you were happily throwing words at others, today you accused me for all the wrongs. The Central Communist League has fallen, together with 80% of its sub-branches. A large number of the grassroots committees of the League have fallen one after another, in glorious manner like the Red Guards in new era. The most bloodily fall has taken place in Jiangxi, Anhui, Gansu, Qinghai, Yunnan, Guizhou, Jilin. Qinghai is the most courageous one, Guizhou the most eye-catching one. After the release of the police investigation, they did not give any response and there wasn't any reflection. I condemn the Communist Youth League.
An investment consultant compared China’s “patriotic youth” to Boxer, a group of rioters who had killed foreigners and demolished churches in Qing dynasty:
100多年来你以为中国改变了吗？没有！过去叫八旗子弟，现在叫红色基因；过去叫祖宗家法，现在叫优良传统；过去叫老佛爷，现在叫老领导；过去叫义和团，现在叫爱国青年。
Do you think China has changed after over a century? Nothing. In Qing dynasty the ruling power was called the bannermen, now red gene; then the ruling mechanic was ancestor family discipline, now good traditions; then the top ruler was called Old Buddha, now old leader; then the nationalist was Boxer, now the patriotic youth.
Zhang Ming, a well-known political scientist and a critic of the government, mocked the patriotic trolls:
每天到我这里来骂街的，都是爱国青年，他们的爱国，就表现在骂街上。在中国，爱国是件挺容易，挺爽的事儿。
Those who abuse under my posts everyday are all patriotic youth. Cursing is their mere patriotic practice, which seems very easy and cool in China.
Wang Shuo, a famous author and a critic, pointed out that patriotism should not be an exclusive club:
通过攻击自己同胞来狠狠地抗击外敌，这隔山打牛的武功失传多年，被如今的爱国主义流氓重新挖掘出来。爱国主义成了一种特权，挂上这块牌子，立刻成了国家的主人，无法无天，理直气壮地耍流氓。挂着爱国主义牌子泄私愤戗害同胞者，请你们别继续侮辱爱国主义了！
Strike against foreign enemies by attacking their own fellows, that’s a lost trick reinvented by the patriotic rogues. Patriotism has degenerated into a kind of privilege with which anyone can suddenly become the host of the country and damage others legitimately. Don’t humiliate patriotism!

author: Jack Hu


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Disappeared Gambian Journalist Slammed With Sedition Charge · Global Voices
Demba Kandeh

Billboard promoting policies of President Yahya Jammeh in The Gambia. Photo by Atamari via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)
A Gambian radio journalist who disappeared on July 17, 2015 was charged with sedition this week by a magistrate court in the capital city of Banjul. Although it is assumed that he is being held by authorities in secret, his whereabouts and condition are unknown.
State prosecutors said that Abdoulie Ceesay intended to cause discontent, hatred and disaffection of President Yahya Jammeh among Gambians by sending photos which showed a gun pointed at the image of the president. Ceesay allegedly sent the photos via mobile phone to two women, Zainab Koneh and Fatou A Drammeh.
Alagie Abdoulie Ceesay. Photo released by gambiaaffairs.com under Creative Commons license.
Ceesay was reportedly abducted by Gambian security agents on July 17. On July 13, just four days prior to his disappearance, he had been released from a previous detention. Family members say his body showed evidence that he had been tortured while in custody.
Ceesay manages the independent radio station Taranga FM, which offers local news programming and translates foreign media content into local languages, has also faced numerous challenges from the government. Authorities have shut down the station three times over the past five years, according to the Gambian Press Union.
Ceesay has endured several arrests and detentions in the past, mainly by the country's National Intelligence Agency (NIA), which answers directly to Gambian President Yahya Jammeh. The NIA is famous for its off-book interrogation methods, especially against perceived enemies.
Multiple human rights organizations have called for justice in Ceesay's case, among them the Committee to Protect Journalists and PEN Africa Network (PAN) of PEN International, which challenged Gambian authorities on “the continued holding in secret confinement” of the journalist. In a press release, PAN noted its deep concern for Ceesay and his continued detention on the basis of his journalistic work, calling this a “serious violation of his freedom of expression” under Gambian law and international legal instruments.
Ceesay is among the most troubled of Gambian journalists, a group that has come to be seen as an endangered species under President Yahya Jammeh, who celebrated 21 years in power on July 22, 2015. In an unusual but welcome move, Jammeh freed over 200 prisoners some of whom had been held unconstitutionally and promised to open a new chapter on civil and political rights in the country. But some Gambians are skeptical as to whether this represents a true policy shift on Yammeh's part.
Responding to a call by a Gambian activist Babou Njie Sallah to free Ceesay, Honest Gambians wondered:
It's insane that Jammeh can free over 200 prisoners and then re arrest an innocent journalist.
Another Gambian Facebook user Salif Joof asked:
What is this telling us as jammeh claim to pardons some prisoners, now again detaining this innocent youth.
In July 2006, a reporter for the Daily Observer, a pro-government newspaper, was abducted under similar circumstances and his whereabouts remain unknown today. Chief Ebrima Manneh reportedly was picked up by NIA operatives from the premises of his office and never returned. AFP reported in 2009 that Manneh was “no longer alive” but this has never been confirmed. He was given Amnesty International's Special Award for Journalism Under Threat later that year.
Chief Ebrima Manneh. Photo via Committee to Protect Journalists.
The disappearances of both men speak to a broader trend of political persecution under Jammeh's leadership. Dr. Amadou Scattred Janneh, a former Information and Communications Minister under Jammeh who now resides in the US, illustrated this in a recent Facebook post identifying 20 people including Abdoulie Ceesay and Chief Ebrima Manneh believed to be illegally held by Gambian authorities.
Janneh was banished from The Gambia for distributing t-shirts inscribed with the words: “End Dictatorship Now”. Dr. Janneh was sentenced to life imprisonment but with the intervention of US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, he was sent to the US where he now lives. He has since become a prominent advocate against human rights violations in The Gambia.
Commenting on Janneh's post, Mariama Juwara wrote:
Doctor Janneh, oh dear the list is still long, it seems the whole nation is behind bars. God save my motherland
In February 2015, during celebrations marking the country's 50 years of independence, Article19 West Africa issued a scathing report of 20 years of a rise in media censorship and curtailing of fundamental freedoms under Jammeh. Fatou Jagne-Senghore, Article19's West Africa representative, wrote:
Today, The Gambia celebrates the 50th anniversary of its accession to international sovereignty. However, this independence – far from being celebrated in harmony and joy – is held at a time when the country is depressed, divided and clouded by persecutions that have marked the past 20 years of oppression. Many have suffered the horrors of the regime: physical and psychological violence, imprisonment, confiscation of properties, and travel documents, enforced disappearances, murders and hundreds of people forced into exiles.
These trends also extend to the Internet. The Gambia has one of the harshest press and Internet regulations on the continent. Online criticism of public officials, for example, is punishable with up to 15 years in jail and or GMD3 million (approximately USD75,000). Online supporters of Ceesay have voiced similar frustration with the system, and with the government's increasing use of digital technologies to monitor and persecute citizens. As Ndey Sarr Nyancho put it:
Another day another Gambian taken away.Gambia has turned into a big open prison with everyone on electronic tag. This nonsense cannot continue anymore!

author: Demba Kandeh


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Future Caribbean Lawyers Give Hope to Victims of Human Trafficking · Global Voices
Jason Nathu

Kinshasa, DR Congo: A woman’s hands make the heart-shaped logo of the World Day of dignity for victims of human trafficking, celebrated on 30 July. Photo by MONUSCO Photos; Photographer: Abel Kavanagh; used under a CC BY-SA 2.0 license.
Students across law schools in the Caribbean joined hands to participate in a global online campaign to raise awareness on World Day Against Trafficking In Persons. They spoke out about the crime in their countries and showed solidarity with its victims in their societies.
“I Give Hope”. HASHTAG: #igivehope pic.twitter.com/AsEMFLFVyw
— UNDP T&T (@UNDP_Trinidad) July 30, 2015
Students of the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and Tobago got in on the action.
Guyanese student, Stefan Knights, who participated in the human trafficking project undertaken by the law school's Human Rights Law Clinic, gave an analysis on the impact of human trafficking in the Caribbean region:
In the Caribbean, human trafficking takes different forms. The most popular form of trafficking up for discussion is generally women and girls being forced into prostitution on the streets. However, this is not the only type of sexual exploitation occurring in the region. Child sex tourism which is common in Belize and the act of adults pressuring children to engage in sex acts with men and women in exchange for money or gifts constitute the crime of human trafficking. Forced labour and domestic servitude are other forms of human trafficking. These forms of human trafficking are visible in the Caribbean but are often ignored by society. Examples would include forced labour in the fishing industry and on construction sites. Recently, in Suriname, a farmer was arrested on human trafficking charges after Guyanese nationals claimed that they were forced to work for free on his farm. Moreover, in Guyana and Trinidad, the prevalent act of forcing children into street vending and begging is form of human trafficking. Further, another example of human trafficking is where children are forced into domestic servitude, after their parents sent them to live with and work for an outside family who agrees to provide food, clothing and shelter; this is common in Haiti.
Knights wet on to discuss the effect of human trafficking to Caribbean societies:
Human trafficking presents enormous challenges for sustainable human development in the Caribbean. Indubitably, victims will suffer the greatest impacts ranging from risk of HIV AIDS and STDs infections to psychological and emotional trauma to the denial of the enjoyment of a number of basic human rights. The consequences of human trafficking are equally grave for society at large. Trafficking in persons is likely to exacerbate major societal issues such as violence, corruption and poverty.
The observance of World Day Against Trafficking In Persons coincided with the Human Rights Law Clinic's latest project in which the question “What does freedom mean to you?“ is asked. On August 1, various territories commemorated the anniversary of emancipation of African slaves in the British West Indies.
Meanwhile, other students at the law school were happy to participate in the #igivehope campaign,  by participating in the coordinated mass social media message.
Today is the National Day Against Trafficking in Persons! The members of the HRC Executive want to remind you to support the cause and spread the message! Post a picture today of yourself alone or with friends making a heart and tag us! Don't forget the hashtag #igivehope – we'll be reposting your pics 😃 Tell a friend! #speakout #HumanTrafficking #HumanRights #igivehope 💙   A photo posted by HWLS Human Rights Committee (@hwls_hrc) on
@Regrann from @bohochicster92 – World Day Against Trafficking In Persons #IGiveHope #Hearts #Love #CelebrateFreedom #Regrann
A photo posted by HWLS Human Rights Committee (@hwls_hrc) on
But despite the social activism, much more needs to be done in the region to curb human trafficking in the region. Knights concludes:
Undeniably, human trafficking is a very complex issue for Caribbean countries to address and there cannot be a one-size-fits-all solution to this problem. However, there needs to be greater public awareness on this subject matter and a better system to report this crime and support the victims.

author: Jason Nathu


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Israel Appoints Former Leader of West Bank Settlers as New Ambassador to Brazil · Global Voices
Taisa Sganzerla

Daniel Dayan, former chairman of the West Bank settlement council. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Israel has appointed prominent settler-advocate Dani Dayan as new ambassador to Brazil. Dayan publicly opposes the two-state solution and has previously told the press that ‘those who do are either naive or liars’.
Brazil officially recognized the Palestinian state in December, 2010. However, Brazil has not established full diplomatic ties with Palestinians.
Following the disproportionate use of force during the Israeli offensive in Gaza in July 2014, Brazil called back its ambassador in Tel Aviv for consultation. This prompted Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor to lament Brazil’s decision and call it a “diplomatic dwarf” and an “irrelevant diplomatic partner”.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Dayan's appointment on Twitter:
I have appointed @dandayan as ambassador to Brazil. I am confident that he will be able to strengthen relations between Israel and Brazil.
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) August 5, 2015
Argentina native, Dani Dayan, 59, acts as foreign envoy of the Yesha Council, an organization formed to promote Jewish settlement in the West Bank and, before 2005, in the Gaza Strip as well. He served as chairman of the organization between 2007 and 2013.
In 2012, he signed an op-ed in the New York Times titled “Settlers are here to stay”, in which he argued Israel “legitimately seized” the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967 and has a “moral claim” to these areas:
Giving up this land in the name of a hallowed two-state solution would mean rewarding those who’ve historically sought to destroy Israel, a manifestly immoral outcome.[…] The insertion of an independent Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan would be a recipe for disaster. The influx of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and elsewhere would convert the new state into a hotbed of extremism. […] The American government and its European allies should abandon this failed formula once and for all and accept that the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria are not going anywhere.
Dayan publicly opposes the violent attacks carried out by Israeli extremist settlers, such as the attack last week which left an eighteen-month-old Palestinian baby dead and his family injured. He says these attacks threatens the settler movement’s credibility.
For Israeli non-profit Peace Now Director Yariv Oppenheimer, who advocates for a two-state solution, Dayan became a sort of ‘rational face’ of the settler movement. He told Forward.com last year:
“He has the same agenda as the most fanatic, right wing settlers. But he has this ability to hide it and to speak with the public with a much more sensible argument and a much more moderate image”

author: Taisa Sganzerla


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Metal Titans From the US and Japan Agree to an Epic Giant Robot Battle · Global Voices
Matt McClellan

Screen capture from YouTube / MegaBots Inc.
American and Japanese robotics companies Megabots and Suidobashi Heavy Industries have agreed to participate in a giant-robot battle one year from now.
US-based Megabots has created the MegaBot Mark II, while Japan's Suidobashi Heavy Industries has developed what it calls the Kuratas, named after CEO and company-founder Kogoro Kurata.
The friendly robot rivalry started after Megabots issued a challenge to Suido Heavy Industries.
In a tongue-in-cheek video uploaded to Youtube by Megabots co-founders Matt Oehrlein and Gui Cavalcanti, the two draped themselves in American flags while touting the capabilities of their dual-cockpit android, specifically its huge guns.
The two Americans, however, did acknowledge the capabilities of Suidobashi's robot, such as its advanced targeting system and the fact that it can be operated by just one person.
“Suidobashi, you have a giant robot, [and] we have a giant robot. You know what needs to happen. We challenge you to a duel… Prepare yourselves and name the battlefield. In one year, we fight,” said Megabots co-founder Oehrlein.
Suidobashi CEO Kogoro Kurata wasted little time in uploading his own video, in which he not only accepted the challenge but playfully pointed out that building a machine and sticking huge guns on it is “super American.”
Kurata said he would prefer to utilize hand-to-hand combat to devastate his American rivals, vowing not to let another country beat Japan in a giant robot battle, since giant robots are a part of Japanese culture.
Suidobashi's video ends with the words “Megabots, organize the duel. We'll be there.”
As Kurata mentioned, Japan has a long history with giant robots, which are commonly featured in various manga and anime.
Among the most famous of these is Ryosuke Takahashi's Armored Trooper VOTOMS, Yoshiyuki Tomino's Mobile Suit Gundam, and Shoji Kawamori's Super Dimensional Fortress Macross.
All three franchises continue to produce new material and have had a significant impact on Japanese society.
A life-sized Gundam statue was built in front of DiverCity Tokyo Plaza in 2012 and a special Macross exhibition was held at the Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum in Kyoto, during the summer of 2013.
According to Kurata, his giant robot is designed after the mecha featured in VOTOMS.
As one might expect, people in Japan are excited about the prospect of a giant robot battle.
Commenting on the social network Matome Naver, a user named Roche322 says:
日本のクリエーター集団の水道橋重工はYoutube上でアメリカからのロボット対決の宣戦布告を受けると発表。Meta Bots社が作った巨大戦闘ロボットによる挑戦を受け入れることを受け入れたことで海外では大いに盛り上がりを見せている。
Japanese robot creator Suidobashi Heavy has been challenged to a giant robot battle by the Americans. Suidobashi Heavy has accepted the challenge, so we are going to see an epic battle, thanks to the giant American battle ‘bot built by Megabots team.
Some Japanese citizens outlined the capabilities of both the US and Japanese machines, implying the Kuratas won't have an easy time winning.
Another Matome Naver commenter, Cobblestone123, says:
MegaBot 2は重量5.4トンのガソリン駆動ロボット。二人乗り複座型で、重量1kgのペイント弾を160km/hで発射する能力を備えます (本人たちの申告による)。
MegaBot 2 is a gas-powered robot weighing in at 5.4 tonnes. It takes two people to operate it, and  is armed with 1 kilogram paint gun bullets that can be fired at 160km/h, according to the Americans.
Cobblestone123 continues:
武器がBB弾に対し、「MegaBot Mark II」は1キロもあるペイント弾とのことなので、武器の換装をしないと火力では勝ち目がないかもしれないが、武器の発射精度や素早さでは、クラタスに勝敗がありそうである。
I heard that since the MegaBot Mark II has 1 kilogram paint ball bullets, if Kurata's team doesn't upgrade the firepower of their Japanese battle ‘bot, Suidobashi Heavy may not have enough power to win. However, if the Japanese battle ‘bot can fire quickly and accurately, Suidobashi Heavy may still beat the Americans.
Cobblestone123 couldn't help but feel inspired by the achievements made by both countries:
やっぱ日本文化じゃないですか、巨大ロボって。やりますよ僕は。巨大ロボ同士の格闘戦。ぶん殴って倒して、勝つというのをやりたい
Giant robots are just a fundamental part of Japanese culture. So I'm going to try making a giant robot for hand to hand combat, too. I want to bring down my opponent with a devastating punch and win.
On Twitter, some are quite naturally comparing the real-life American and Japanese giant robots to those found in anime and manga:
ガンダムは軍事用な気が… 近日中の採用はないと思いますが。 “@mototchen: .@sakura_osamu 以下まとめました。 非軍事用巨大ロボットは日本のロマン – NAVER まとめ http://t.co/kxegdRqTwy”
— Kenichi Kubota (@kfsq) July 23, 2014
While Gundam are all about military affairs and service, but I don't think we're going to see actual robots used [to settle disbutes] anytime soon.
Some Japanese Internet users predict an American victory:
「我々はアメリカ人だから、巨大ロボにはでっかい銃（Really Big Gun）を搭載した」完璧すぎた。クラタスにはハラキリ機能を搭載しよう
— kurekure_kun (@kurekure_kun) July 2, 2015
“Since we're Americans, we added really big guns to our giant robot,” oh man that's too perfect. The Kuratas should install a harakiri (ritual suicide) function.
In response to Kurekure_kun's tweet, another Twitter user had this to say:
@kurekure_kun メガボットのペイント弾をクラタスが居合するところを見てみたい。
— sa (@sa_tsuklog) July 2, 2015
I want to see the Kuratas try and draw a sword to cut down the paint balls in one smooth motion.
One Twitter user was surprisingly philosophical:
日本には八百万の神しかり「全てのものに意思や人格、それに準ずるものがある」という思考が根強い。だからこそ、クラタスのデザインも擬人化された、人に近いフォルムなんだろうね。 そこが、日本のクラタスとアメリカのメガボットのデザインの差を大きく表してるのかも？
— ヨウ化ヨウ素葉酸カリウム溶液P (@Magus_leader) July 2, 2015
Since there are eight million kami (gods, deities) in Japan, it's tough not to believe that “all things correspond with the intentions and personalities of those who made them.” That's likely why the Kuratas is anthropomorphic and its form resembles a person. Maybe that's why there's such a big difference between the design of the Kuratas and the MegaBots?
As Oehrlein states in Megabot's challenge video, both robots will need to undergo modifications, in order to be combat-ready by next year.
The impressive technology and friendly rivalry between the two companies will make this an interesting story to follow over the coming months, until the two robots duke it out sometime in 2016.

author: Matt McClellan


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Mexico: “We Are the Problem Because We Disturb the Government and the Narcos” · Global Voices
Sin Embargo

Mexican anthropologist Nadia Vera was assassinated in Mexico City on July 31, along with photojournalist Rubén Espinosa and three other women. Photo taken from her Twitter account.
Update (7 August 2015): According to the police, the women (Nadia, 18-year-old Yesenia Quiroz Alfaro, a young Colombian woman, and a Mexican housekeeper whose identities have not been disclosed yet) showed signs of having been sexually abused before being killed.
Although she was originally from Comitán, Chiapas, anthropologist Nadia Vera Pérez, 32, had a precise diagnosis for the crisis of violence and impunity plaguing Veracruz, the state where she did her university studies and where she also lived.
“Here you are the merchandise,” she told the creators of “Veracruz: la fosa olvidada” (“Veracruz: The Forgotten Pit”), a November 2014 report produced by the internet television channel Rompeviento documenting the disappearances in the city of Xalapa  and aired in November 2014.
“A ti te agarran como mujer para la trata, a ti como estudiante para el sicariato. Aquí el problema somos todos nosotros, que les estorbamos tanto al Gobierno como al narco; estamos ante dos frentes de represión, ilegal y la legal. Porque el narco es el que gobierna en este estado. El narco es el que está rigiendo; Los Zetas literalmente son los que tienen todo este estado manipulado, regido; aquí te cobran derecho de piso, aquí te cobran por tener un bar, te cobran por trabajar”, dijo la joven egresada de la Universidad Veracruzana y, hasta su muerte, promotora cultural.
“The human traffickers grab you as a woman, the hired killers if you're a student. Here we are all the problem, disturbing the Government as well as the narcos; we're faced with repression on two fronts, the legal and the illegal. Because the narcos are the government in this state. The narcos are the ones in power; the Zetas are literally the ones who manipulate this whole state, rule it; here they charge you use rights, there they charge you to operate a bar, they charge you just to have a job,” said the young University of Veracruz graduate who, up to the time of her death was cultural affairs promoter.
Vera's body was found last Friday, July 31, together with those of other three women and photojournalist Rubén Espinosa, 31, in an apartment in Mexico City's Narvarte section. Vera's body showed signs of “a gunshot wound to the head and multiple abrasions.” Both Espinosa and Vera were well known in Veracruz for publicly denouncing the violence and out-of-control impunity in the city, especially after 2010, when Javier Duarte de Ochoa took the reins of the state government.
“And the context of who Javier Duarte de Ochoa was must be understood: You give a little power to an ignoramus and this is what occurs. Because he's not even conscious of the political cost of anything. They killed Regina Martínez, and nothing happened. They also just killed Gregorio Jiménez, another journalist, and nothing has happened. So many journalists have been murdered, and nothing has happened,” Vera said in the interview.
With a scarf around her neck and sunglasses on her head, the anthropologist stood boldly before the camera and posed questions about the climate of violence that appears to have caught up with her and her friend Rubén in the Mexican capital.
“¿Cuántos defensores, activistas, defensores de derechos humanos han sido asesinados, levantados, desaparecidos. O sea, tenemos un nivel de desaparecidos impresionante, pero tiene que ver también con el personaje que tenemos gobernando, y todavía se está levantando el cuello que es el estado más seguro ahorita. Creo que no tiene un poquito de vergüenza”, agregó.
“How many advocates, activists, human rights defenders have been murdered, kidnapped, disappeared? Or maybe why we have a huge number of disappearances has something to do with the person we have governing us and still proclaiming this to be the safest state right now. I don't think he has the least bit of shame,” she added.
Vera had recently denounced a June 5 machete attack in Xalapa against eight Humanities students and activists from the University of Veracruz who had gathered at a house in the Veracruz state capital. The academic community held the state's Secretary of Public Security Arturo Bermúdez responsible.
#Xalapa Estudiantes de la UV brutalmente golpeados x encapuchados/Terrorismo de Estado #SiTocanAUnoNosTocanATodos http://t.co/GVzc4HIgpb
— Nadia Vera (@NadiaDVera) June 5, 2015
http://plumaslibres.com.mx/2015/06/05/denuncian-estudiantes-de-uv-que-gobierno-ordeno-ataque-a-8-jovenes/
#Xalapa UV students brutally beaten x hooded/State Terrorism #IfYouTouchOneOfUsYouTouchAllOfUs
The attack on the students triggered the persecutions that photographer Rubén Espinosa began to notice. He started following up the story, but was forced to leave Xalapa on June 9 after suspicious individuals started lurking outside his house.
According to information released yesterday by Veracruz media outlet e-Consulta, Vera had also taken part in the Xalapa Student Assembly, and in 2012 participated in the #YoSoy132 movement—a nationwide movement to repudiate now President Enrique Peña Nieto. That year she was beaten during a demonstration by state police.
e-Consulta added that Nadia had done social work at the Casa Magnolia Cultural Centre, and at that time devoted herself professionally to cultural promotion, directing the Cuadro x Cuadro art festival last May.
“It is necessary to act right now, because we are destroying ourselves. We need to do something ourselves,” the anthropologist said in the Rompeviento interview.
Rafael Rodríguez Castañeda, director of the Proceso news weekly, said it is worrisome that Mexico City's Federal District Attorney General's Office (PGJDF) has stated that Espinosa came to the capital in search of job opportunities, whereas several witnesses have said that he left Veracruz state because he feared for his safety.
“I think the investigation should first focus on the city of Xalapa from which Rubén was fleeing,” said the director of the magazine where Espinosa collaborated with journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva on Radio Fórmula.
Rodríguez Castañeda said that instead of speculating, results must be demanded of the authorities. He suggested that the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) had a necessary role to play in the investigations.
Pedro Valtierra, director of the photographic agency Cuartoscuro, said that Espinosa “arrived very scared” from Veracruz. “That comment about him coming calmly—he told me that he was actually very afraid.”
Valtierra recalled that Espinosa intimated to colleagues on several occasions that he would be persecuted even in the capital. “What could have happened to make them terrorize a young man to such an extent?”
But at a press conference on August 2, Mexico City Attorney General Rodolfo Ríos Garza insisted that Espinosa “had been in the Federal District for two months looking for new job opportunities.”
According to the Attorney General's Office, the bodies of Espinosa, Vera and two of the women were found in the bedrooms, and one more in the bathroom. Each one, said Attorney General Rodolfo Ríos, had a bullet wound to the head from a 9 millimeter weapon, “as well as abrasions on various parts, presumably due to the initial struggle prior to submitting to what they were subjected to.”
Sources consulted by SinEmbargo added that the bodies showed signs of having undergone prolonged torture. No neighbour, however, reported hearing any shots. Most were reluctant to give information and it appears that the building's residents were ordered by ministerial officials not to give any interviews.
Espinosa, according to friends’ reports, had considered returning to Veracruz, mainly due to the lack of steady income. Besides, he has begun to notice that he was being pursued even in Mexico City.
“He told me that while he was being interviewed in a café, a man suddenly appeared and said, ‘You're the reporter from Veracruz who's being pursued,'” an exiled journalists’ rights defender told SinEmbargo.
Despite the circumstances, Espinosa had decided in his last hours to remain in Mexico City, and had received confirmation that week of a staff position at the Cuartoscuro agency. “I spoke to him around 11:30 on Thursday, and he said he was going to stay,” Moisés Pablo Nava, the agency's editor, told SinEmbargo.
“The idea was to meet on Tuesday to confirm the appointment,” the reporter added.
On that Thursday night, July 30, Espinosa found himself at a meeting in apartment 401 of the building on Luz Saviñón Street and decided to stay over, he told his friends and colleagues Nicolás Tavira and Alejandro Meléndez, to avoid the trip to Santa Fe, almost an hour from the Narvarte neighbourhood, where he planned, above all, to visit—his friends believe—the activist and cultural promoter Nadia Vera.


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Russia’s ‘Draconian’ Internet Laws Mostly Ignored By Industry Experts · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Russian online industry seems to largely ignore the country's Internet legislation. Image by Peter on Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0.
Russian Internet legislation has been the subject of great concern among free expression advocates, policymakers, and average Internet users. RuNet Echo has reported extensively on some of the new laws regulating online business and communications that have already come into force or will do so in the nearest future. The blogger law, the law against online extremism, the data localization law, the “right to be forgotten” law—the list goes on and on.
On the surface, these laws look bad: they limit free expression, ask users to reveal personal information, and restrict the spaces where Internet companies can store user data. But some experts have also called the laws sloppy and full of loopholes, while others have claimed that, in some cases, the laws’ demands are simply impossible to fulfil.
Russia's Internet ombudsman Dmitry Marinichev has repeatedly criticized the data localization law, while Yandex, the country's largest search engine company, has called the “right to be forgotten” law “unconstitutional.” On August 1, the first year anniversary of the blogger law, Russia's communications watchdog Roscomnadzor reported that the popular blogger registry (which was meant to take stock of all blogs and social media pages with over three thousand daily views) had accumulated only 640 entries.
But how much does the online community actually know about these “draconian” measures? A recent survey of online industry experts in Russia, conducted by the Russian Association for Electronic Communications (RAEC), showed that many Internet experts have never even heard about some of the new laws. Only one out of six Internet professionals in Russia reads the texts of the laws in full, RAEC's survey found. “I'm not surprized that people aren't rushing to gain in-depth knowledge of Internet regulation,” Karen Kazaryan, an analyst with RAEC, told RBC news agency. “A significant part of our Internet industry tries to exist as if the laws don't apply to them.”
As it turns out, not many industry experts actually read the laws regulating the RuNet. Chart by Tetyana Lokot.
RAEC, a non-government association that unites over a hundred Internet and telecommunications companies working in Russia, published the results of the survey as part of its annual “Internet in Russia” report. According to the survey results, industry experts knew the least about the law limiting online payments: 10.7 percent were not aware the law even existed. The law on extremism (frequently applied to online content) rang a bell, but only just: 51.8 percent of the experts have never read the actual text, either fully, or in part. The experts polled by RAEC seemed most concerned with the data localization law, with 28.5 percent of the experts having read it in its entirety.
While the laws are certainly problematic and require continued pressure from human rights and consumer rights groups, as well as pushback from the industry, it remains to be seen how much longer the online professionals and corporate experts in Russia can afford to ignore the regulations. Given their business interests, and Russia's desire to improve the economy, it's probably safe to say Internet businesses have more sway then regular Internet users, who are, at the moment, virtually unprotected from any legal repercussions of what they choose to do online.

author: Tanya Lokot


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Young Israeli Fashion Designer Prints World’s First 3D Collection · Global Voices
Maya Norton

3D printed skirt, top, and shoes from the collection of Israeli fashion designer Danit Peleg. (Source: DanitPeleg.com)
Fashion designer and innovator Danit Peleg, 27, is giving the world something to talk about. The creator of the world's first 3D printed clothing collection, Peleg explains:
Posted on YouTube on July 22, 2015 and on Start-Up Nation's Facebook page on July 29th, Peleg's two-minute promotional video displaying the line and explaining her process has garnered 2.8 million views and 50,000 shares to date.
The collection is made out of a plastic thread-like material called Filaflex using a Witbox printer. Three dimensional printing is done through a series of layering and binding of materials to create a stacking effect of each successive layer. Fashionista reports that each of Peleg's outfits took 400 hours to print; printing out the shoes took longer.
As 3D printing technology advances and becomes quicker and more affordable, users could download and print files at home as they do with two dimensional clothes patterns. Peleg predicts:
I think this is just the beginning. As technologies evolve, we will soon be all printing our own clothes at home.

author: Maya Norton