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Whether They Stay or Leave, Residents of Syria’s Al-Waer Face an Uncertain Future · Global Voices
Syria Untold

A child holds a bouquet of flowers while leaning from one of the buses that are used to resettle Al-Waer residents. Madinat al-Maared Square, Al-Waer, Homs. Taken on March 27, 2017. Source: Maher Al-Khaled/SyriaUntold.
This story was written for Syria Untold by Jood Mahbani, a Homs-based journalist and civil activist, and translated by Yaaser Azzayyaat. It was originally published on May 8, 2017 and is republished here in two parts as part of a partnership agreement. Read part one below. For part two, click here.
“Idlib, Jarablus, or Homs northern countryside?”
This is the question often asked by the residents of the Syrian city of Al-Waer, west of Homs city and part of Homs district, when inquiring about each other’s different destinations. Rebels and their families are evacuating their last bastion in the city that has been dubbed “the capital of the revolution,” following a Russia-brokered agreement.
After six years of war, which began as a popular uprising against the Assad regime, the latter is regaining control with the support of both Russia and Iran.
As per the agreement, which was signed on March 13, 2017, by both the regime delegation and Al-Waer Neighborhood Committee, the exodus will take place in batches, until the departure of the last person wishing to leave the district, at which point it will be handed over to the Syrian regime forces.
Since no substantial guarantees have been offered, many of the residents have opted to venture to the “unknown” instead of awaiting the “inevitable,” according to Ibtisam Al-Masri, a mother of four children. (Pseudonyms have been used throughout this story for security purposes.)
She imagined that the fate of the district would at best be similar to that of Eastern Aleppo. “They will not leave anything unlooted,” she added, before stepping into one of buses that would take the fifth batch of exiles to the city of Jarablus. “They will retaliate against all those who stay, which is why I’m leaving… no way could I stay and watch them murder us and raid our homes.”
The opposition media stress that the Homs district is on the brink of descending into systematic demographic transformation engineered by the Syrian regime, as has been the case in cities such as Daraya, Al-Qusayr and Eastern Aleppo, all of which have previously been besieged and ultimately evacuated.
However, the situation in Al-Waer is far more ambiguous and complex, and it is yet unclear whether the regime is actually willing to evacuate all of its inhabitants before deploying its forces.
The Al-Waer evacuation deal has been peculiarly marked by the opening of crossings to allow civilian property owners to enter before the regime forces do so. It also included the option to remain for those willing, unlike what had happened in Eastern Aleppo, for example, where all civilians had been evacuated before regime forces entered.
Nonetheless, the mistrust of people in the Russian patronage, as the sole guarantor of the deal, in addition to the armed Shiite villages that are adjacent to Al-Waer (Zarzuriya, Hayek and Mazraa) have led to widespread dread in the district. There have circulated many rumors that there are Shiites militants in Mazraa village (which is contiguous to al-Waer) awaiting the last batch of rebels to evacuate the district in order to raid the remaining civilians and persecute them.
Consequently, the civilian population has been caught between the grim prospects of being displaced and uprooted, on the one hand, or remaining in a state of uncertainty, on the other, each of which is an infinitely difficult choice to make.
Hayyan Al-Siufi, a 30-year-old civil activist, described the last five years he has spent under siege as “years of loss.”
He described to SyriaUntold the harsh conditions of bombardment, besiegement and destruction of infrastructure, admitting his regret for not having decided to emigrate since the beginning of the armed turmoil in Syria. “I do not know, what all of that was for?” he added in bewilderment. “Why have we remained patient? For us to finally be displaced like this and leave our homes and loved ones?”
Hayyan is only one of thousands of young people in Al-Waer who are eligible for forced conscription or reserve duty, and who have preferred to remain in the rebel-held enclave since 2011 and did not travel abroad. They had hopes that the war would one day come to an end, and they be exempted from the compulsory service or reserve enlistment.
However, as the evacuation of the district became a reality, with only a few weeks remaining for the batches to be concluded, most of them decided to register their names to leave. They refused to stay for fear of the same old-new concern, that is, the compulsory military service in the Syrian regime’s military.
Moreover, if men under the age of 40 quickly determined to leave to opposition-controlled areas, the harder decision concerned their families and relatives. These have mixed priorities, responsibilities, fears and expectations.
Stranded between their attachment to the roots as well as to their departing sons, a lot of families have been split in their decisions, with some withdrawing their request to register the chosen destination and re-submitting it several times.
“We registered for Idlib in order to promptly leave for Turkey. We then realized that smuggling is not that easy and never inexpensive, so we decided to change to Jarablus,” said Umm Rami, justifying her presence with a group of residents at one of the registration centers, despite the expiry of the deadline for choosing a destination.
As SyriaUntold spoke to her, it was revealed that she is a government employee, and that her husband’s age exceeds the required age for reserve. They nonetheless opted to leave with their three children out of concern for them.
“The elder is 26, and he is wanted for reserve, the middle is 20 and is wanted for compulsory service, and the youngest is 15 which means he is approaching the age of military service.”
Wrapping the neck with her palms as to alleviate agony, she added in a hoarse voice: “I feel horribly defeated. I don’t want to leave my house, my belongings, my memories, but I also cannot leave my children at this age.”
At the registration center for the assigned destinations (Idlib, Jarablus, Homs northern countryside), people exchange advice and share information obtained by those who preceded them to one of those destinations.
Some sweeping statements that have been repeated more than once by several people take the form of mantras circulating in the neighborhood as scientific fact. “Idlib has cheap rent costs for homes,” “Idlib’s problem is that it’s dangerous and subject to bombing,” “Those choosing Idlib are in fact choosing Turkey through a smuggling route,” “The regime forces will arrest all those who remain in the neighborhood,” “Jarabulus is safe, but dwellings are very difficult to secure,” “If you could live in a tent then you can go to Jarablus,” “The northern countryside will soon suffer the same fate of Al-Waer.”
Umm Rami retreats from a group of women talking, leaving the ladies behind her to resume their conversation. She drags her feet with difficulty, holding tears which could not but overflow from her eyes. “All of this is pointless,” she told SyriaUntold. “We are swarmed with details, and are amusing ourselves with which destination is better, Idlib or Jarablus… but we are missing an important thing: It’s all the same! We’re leaving!”
Read part two of this story: In Syria's Al-Waer, the Uncertainty of Evacuating Weighs Heavy on Residents

author: Syria Untold


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A Jamaican Cultural Landmark Gets Some Much-Needed Tender Loving Care · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

The Ward Theatre in downtown Kingston, standing strong after a storm. Photo by Christina Xu, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Councillor Delroy Williams, who recently took up his post as mayor of Kingston and St. Andrew, has hit the ground running with his vision for the redevelopment of downtown Kingston, inspired by the city's United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designation as a Creative City of Music.
For this year's Labour Day — a day set aside for community improvement projects — the mayor's flagship project was the restoration of the historic Ward Theatre in downtown Kingston. The venture appears to have been well-received by the Jamaican public and drew widespread support, including from the Ministry of Culture (which is also hoping to build a state-of-the-art concert hall). However, there remains much work to be done.
Despite its colonial origins, the Ward Theatre, situated in the busy heart of downtown, has a special place in many Jamaicans’ hearts. Over the years the building has steadily deteriorated, with pieces of plaster from the façade occasionally falling on passers-by. The private Ward Theatre Foundation had not been successful in raising sufficient funds, despite appeals. Declared a national monument in 2000, its decline has troubled many Jamaicans, given that the Ward has witnessed many historic occasions, both cultural and political, before and since the country's independence from Great Britain.
Colonel C.J. Ward donated the space to the City of Kingston in 1912, after the former theatre was destroyed in the earthquake of 1907. Many international and local performers have graced its stage, including Marian Anderson, Paul Robeson, Alicia Markova, Anton Dolin, Charles Laughton, Arthur Rubinstein, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, the National Dance Theatre Company and many others.
It was also the home of the National Pantomime — another colonial institution that is part of many childhood memories — which stopped playing there in 2002, because of the poor state of the facility and its surroundings.
In the past few years, there have been repeated calls, laced with nostalgia, for the theatre's renewal. For example, Justine Henzell (the daughter of Perry Henzell, director of the acclaimed Jamaican film “The Harder They Come“) tweeted three years ago:
Remembering Perry Henzell staging the musical GARVEY! At the Ward #kote #wardtheatre #legacy
— Justine Henzell (@JustineHenzell) June 22, 2014
And the media at the time pointed out the need for the Ward's renovation:
@televisionjam is back to this utterly heartbreaking #wardtheatre feature! It is such a shame that it still stands in proper ruination.
— Marlon Williams (@Marlon_Zeus) August 6, 2014
One Twitter user made reference to the inaction of administrations on both sides of the political fence, despite both parties being launched at the Ward:
#PNP & #JLP both launched at the #WardTheatre now sits in ruin #Heritage
— Liveat7 (@Liveat7ja) September 12, 2014
And just one year ago, blogger Wayne Campbell wondered:
Are there any plans to restore the Ward Theatre to its former glory? #PerformingArts #WardTheatre #actors #screenwriting #theatre #culture
— Wayne Campbell (@WayneCamo) June 4, 2016
Now, it seems Campbell's question has been answered.
As part of his vision for making Kingston the cultural hub of Jamaica, Mayor Williams has seized the proverbial bull by the horns and decided to tackle the very costly task of renovating the Ward Theatre. On May 23, 2017 (Labour Day), his office mobilized 40 volunteers who began work in specific areas of the building, beginning with the dressing rooms and restrooms. Both Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Opposition Leader Peter Phillips participated in the work and gave brief remarks praising the effort and the importance of both Jamaica and Kingston's cultural heritage.
Opposition Leader @PDPhillipsJa and PM @AndrewHolnessJM paint Central Police Station, one of the national #LabourDay2017 projects – @rmakyn pic.twitter.com/uEGo9bd91n
— Jamaica Gleaner (@JamaicaGleaner) May 23, 2017
A group of young volunteers shared on Instagram:
We volunteer at ward theatre for Labour day. #labourday2017 #wardtheatre #labourdayreward #Kingston145
A post shared by Keino Brown (@keino_brown) on
Response to the Ward Theatre renovation was generally enthusiastic:
It warms my heart to see Ward theatre being renovated. It's been way too long and at least a bit of our culture will be restored ??♥
— T.Lynn ? (@JsCallMeTee) May 25, 2017
Some social media users were downright emotional:
Tears well up. This is wonderful. Congrats and thanks to all who worked behind and in front over time. Mr. Mayor, good work #shipofstate https://t.co/NEDMNBW3xj
— Deborah Hickling (@debhick) May 25, 2017
Even younger Jamaicans who were not familiar with the Ward were impressed. One shared on Instagram:
My first time putting foot inside the much touted #WardTheatre…. and immediately a sense of history dawned upon me…. I really can't understand how we allowed thugs to mash up this country. # #downtownisbeautiful #downtownrestoration #downtown #Kingston #Jamaica #nostalgia #history #LabourDay
A post shared by A. W. (@who_name_andrew) on
While the Institute of Jamaica‘s Colin Greenland is leading the charge on fundraising, Mayor Williams has set up a management plan and hopes to have the Ward open for business by August, with the space being fully operational by December 2017. The Jamaica National Heritage Trust notes challenges, however — including termite infestation and other structural issues.
Additional hurdles that cannot be overlooked include the perception of high crime in the area, which has proved a deterrent to would-be theatre-goers in the past. While a downtown Kingston redevelopment project is in its planning stages, there is so much more to do when it comes to beautifying and securing the theatre's surroundings.
Actor and dramatist Aston Cooke shared the mayor's comments about the importance of theatre on Facebook:
‘Theatre is an important cultural space in any society. It is similar to a mirror — a means to look at self as it reflects society. A theatre is also a space which nurtures the creative and creativity is very important to a prosperous and progressive society. It is also a space to float ideas and where all ideas can contend, and we learn the customs and culture of other peoples. No progressive society can operate without this critical space.’

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Emma Lewis


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Croatians Are Planning a Repeat of Last Year’s Massive Protests for Educational Reform · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Part of the June 1, 2016 protest in Zagreb, Croatia. Photo: Nina Đurđević / hrvatskamozebolje.org, published with permission.
On June 1, 2016, 50,000 Croatians took to the streets of Zagreb, demanding educational reforms under the slogan “Croatia can do better.”
On the first anniversary of the protest, organizers say they'll be mobilizing once again to ask for accountability in education. The initiative will gather more than 250 different organizations, trade unions, teachers, and other individuals interested in raising the quality of education.
Last year, authorities tried to minimize the importance of the demonstration, deemed “a party” by the then-Minister of Education Predraga Šustar. Protesters didn't consider his remark funny. The description of the Facebook event for the anniversary protest reads:
To nije bila “fešta”, to nije bilo “čekanje tramvaja”. Bilo je to zalaganje za reformu obrazovanja. Svatko tko razmišlja dulje od četiri godine unaprijed zna da vrijedi ulagati u obrazovanje. Kvalitetno obrazovanje izgrađuje ljude koji iniciraju promjene, pokreću poslove, grade demokratsko i solidarno društvo.
Neispunjavanjem zahtjeva za obrazovnom reformom utemeljenoj na stručnosti nije izgubljena samo jedna godina nego i jedna generacija učenica i učenika.
This wasn't “a party,” this wasn't “waiting for a tram.” This was a demand for educational reform. Anyone who's thinking more than four years ahead knows that investing in education is worthwhile. Quality education creates people who initiate changes, start businesses, build a democratic society based on solidarity.
Refusal to fulfill the demands for educational reforms based on expertise meant a loss not only of one year, but of a whole generation of female and male students.
Participants are using the hashtags #jerHrvatska (“because Croatia”), #HrvatskaMozeBolje (“Croatia can do better”), and #HrvatskaMoraBolje (“Croatia must do better”).
The 2016 protests had galvanizing impact on Croatian civil society. Before the New Year, journalist Mirna Zidarić remarked:
kada se na znakovnom jeziku kaže #hrvatskamozebolje <3 najdogađaj 2016-e… jer #hrvatskamorabolje pic.twitter.com/60HHD2ifeC
— mirna zidaric (@MirnaZidaric) December 31, 2016
This is how we say #CroatiaCanDoBetter in sign language. This was the most important event of 2016, because #CroatiaMustDoBetter.
Organizers invested what was left over of the money raised for the 2016 protests into a scholarship for a student who is also the parent of a small child; Leonarda Špiranec, 25, won. Previously, they published a detailed financial report on the spending.
The follow-up protest is scheduled for June 1 in Zagreb's main square, and will include a march towards the main train station. The goal is to remind authorities about the demands of their movement. Organizers say when it comes to shaping education policy in Croatia, political and private interests outweigh the constructive proposals put forward by educators, and as a result, Croatia continues to experience massive brain drain.
Current Minister of Education Pavo Barišić echoed the quip of his predecessor by remarking that this protest is not a protest, drawing criticism by the citizens.
Ne bih ja to nazvao prosvjedom. Ja to doživljavam kao nešto što svima nama donosi dodatne poticaje da reforma bude uspješna, svatko na svoj način.
I would not call it a protest. I see it as something that brings additional incitement to all of us to make the reform successful, for everybody to contribute in their own way.
Barišić is currently embroiled in a plagiarism scandal, which has further invited the scrutiny of Croatians.
Pazite vi ovog Barišića: novi Zakon o znanosti predviđa da se ne može dobiti otkaz zbog plagijata #jerhrvatska https://t.co/xKLCnU9oYp
— Marko Jurčić ماهر (@markojurci) May 23, 2017
Tweet: Hey, check out what Barišić is doing: the new law on science prohibits firing people on account of plagiarism. #becauseCroatia
Link: Barišić fine-tunes the law on science as if Germans could take away his PhD title
The article linked by the above tweet contrasts the attitude of German authorities, who acted swiftly by removing caught plagiarists from public office, and the actions of Croatian authorities, which only serve the “interests of several top decision makers.”

author: Filip Stojanovski


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In Syria’s Al-Waer, the Uncertainty of Evacuating Weighs Heavy on Residents · Global Voices
Syria Untold

Al-Waer residents hop on the buses that will take them to Jarablus, northern Syria, one of the destinations where they ‘chose’ to resettle following the latest agreement between the regime and the armed opposition. Madinat Al-Maared Square, Al-Waer, Homs. Taken on March 27, 2017. Source: Maher Al-Khaled/SyriaUntold.
Syrian rebels and their families are in the process of evacuating their last bastion in Al-Waer, which has been dubbed “the capital of the revolution,” following a Russia-brokered agreement. The exodus will take place in batches, until the departure of the last person wishing to leave the district, at which point it will be handed over to Syrian government forces.
Residents, however, are also given the option to stay.
The civilian population is now caught between the grim prospects of being displaced and uprooted, on the one hand, or remaining in a state of uncertainty, on the other, each of which is an infinitely difficult choice to make.
This is part two of a story written for Syria Untold by Jood Mahbani, a Homs-based journalist and civil activist, and translated by Yaaser Azzayyaat. It was originally published on May 8, 2017 and is republished here as part of a partnership agreement. Read part one: Whether They Stay or Leave, Residents of Syria's Al-Waer Face an Uncertain Future.
According to the agreement, those who wish to leave with the rebels are allowed to evacuate in weekly batches, at a rate of 1,500 to 2,000 individuals per week. It is expected that batches will continue until mid-May, followed by the deployment of Syrian and Russian civilian police.
After searching the district and ensuring the security of the remaining residents under Russian supervision, which is supposed to deter any retaliatory action, the neighborhood will be entirely handed over to Syrian government forces. This particular point is what frightens people and leaves room for rumors to circulate: What is the fate of those who remain after handing the district over?
None of these questions can be answered, although the Syrian government has repeatedly stated, through Homs Governor Talal Al-Barazi, that no civilian who remains in the district will be harmed, and that the government encourages people to stay.
In an attempt to project good intentions towards the residents, the Syrian government asked the committee that represents the neighborhood to record the names of those who left or are leaving to Jarablus and Idlib and may wish to return to the district — in case they leave and later regret it and decide to return to Al-Waer.
All these assurances, however, do not seem to deter the remaining families in the district from leaving along with the upcoming batches. The scene of displacement is repeated weekly, when the Madinat Al-Maared Square witnesses a mass gathering around the green buses entering the district to relocate families to their chosen destinations. There, people bid farewell to each other, their looks devoid of hope, and many refusing to speak to the media.
In front of one of the buses, a young woman hesitates to board after bidding every relative of hers farewell. She glances at everything around her, and then looks at her foothold and stands still. The woman seems to have just been overwhelmed with the realization that this is her last footstep in her neighborhood, which she may not tread again for years. She does not stay like that for long, as other women become restless and push her onto the bus, where she soon gets out of sight.
At the opposite bus stands an old man who does not carry luggage, indicating that he intends to stay. He firmly grips the hand of his grandson, before the child has to step up to the bus accompanied by his parents. The old man hugs his son with one hand, the other still holding his grandson’s little hand.
“I beg you, daddy, let me stay with grandpa,” the child says with tears gushing from his eyes. With apparent difficulty, the father pulls his son’s hand away from his grandfather’s, then kisses his old father’s forehead for the second time, and utters his last sentence: “Forgive me, father, it was never my choice to leave.” He climbs quickly onto the bus with his wife and child, hiding with the passengers and leaving the old man standing alone in the square.
On April 24, 2017, the arrangements for the sixth evacuation, which was heading to Jarablus, continued for a full day, causing the residents to feel very weary and fatigued. The neighborhood is scheduled to be again bled of its people through forced displacement by the beginning of the next week.
It is worth mentioning that rebel-held Al-Waer has been subjected to several violent military campaigns. The last full-scale siege has been gradually imposed by the Syrian regime forces over the past five years, resulting in waves of displacement that have led to a decline in its civilian population.
In the recent military escalation in early February 2017, parachute mines were dropped on Al-Waer for the first time since 2011, according to testimonies by local activists and doctors. Armed opposition forces finally surrendered and agreed to leave the neighborhood, provided that those wishing to leave are also allowed to go to opposition-held areas.


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Lebanese Dancers See Growing Public Appreciation of Their Work · Global Voices
Dalia El Ali

Cynthia Assadourian (left) on the set of ‘So You Think You Can Dance?’. Screenshot of YouTube Video.
“It's incredible what these shows have done to our profession.”
This is how Lebanese dancer Cynthia Assadourian described to Global Voices the impact of shows like the Arabic versions of So You Think You Can Dance?‘ (يلا نرقص) and Dancing With The Stars (رقص النجوم) on the public's perception of dancing.
Assadourian, who was herself a former contestant on So You Think You Can Dance, said that she's been witnessing a sort of bodily liberation around her:
Latin dance, in particular, has become mandatory in dance studios. You see men and women of different ages and from all walks of life coming into the studio to have fun and work out. Even men are letting go of their fear of hip-shaking. I never thought I’d live to see the day where men would do that.
She added:
Of course, people still come in with a fear of not being able to keep up with the choreography but that’s normal. It might be difficult at first but eventually, your body and mind get used to it. It just takes a bit of practice and hard work. Most people prefer to take up dancing rather than hit the gym, because it doesn’t feel like a workout.
Lyne Gandour, a popular hip-hop dancer, first caught the eyes of her dance teachers at a tender age. She was constantly praised for having a contagious energy whenever she danced. Her ability to memorize choreography and improvise made her one of the most well-known young dancers in Lebanon. Just like many others in her field, Gandour also noticed a shift in attitude when it comes to dance:
My first steps in dance started at a very young age with gymnastics, that I learned in my home country of Ivory Coast. Being raised in Africa developed in me a big respect for this form of art. When I moved to Lebanon, my dedication for dance grew ten times stronger, particularly because of how people treated dance and dancers. When I opened my new dance studio, my aim was to educate my students about dance and make them work very hard at it. I want this artistic domain to be as challenging as any well reputed major in Lebanon.
Such a shift would be very different from the public perception of dance that Gandour encountered when she first moved to Lebanon:
I believe that dance has been quite often associated with pejorative meanings in the Arab world. I never felt like dance earned the respect it deserved until programs such as Dancing With The Stars came to the Arab world. It was seen more as a sin rather than an art form.
She, too, credits these dance shows with changing people's perceptions:
Seeing your celebrity role model expressing her or himself in a new language made all those fans want to understand what dance is all about. Dancing With The Stars gave this form of art a second chance, allowing everyone to see the struggle, drive, dedication all dancers go through; which made it real, raw and definitely relatable.
Another side effect of this popularity has been a rise in Arabic pop music videos using dance crews that perform slick choreography behind the artist. Popular Arabic artists such as Najwa Karam and Assi El Helani took part in this popular new trend, despite making music that couldn't be further from the hip-hop genre.
Greek-Lebanese hip-hop pioneer Charles Makriss says of this popular trend:
Sometimes artists come to me last-minute wanting to learn choreography. The truth is, I only teach them a step or two. It’s painful to see non-dancers trying to execute choreography. This is why I prefer to incorporate my own dance crew. I don’t want to embarrass the artist and make them look awkward. I’ve been doing this for more than 15 years. I even opened my own hip-hop dance school.
No matter the reason, the shift in the Lebanese public’s opinion regarding dance has become more apparent now.
With dance shows highlighting the incredible amount of dedication and effort dancers — and non-dancers — put into just a three-minute piece of choreography, it’s no wonder so many dancers are now opening new dance schools.
Even academic institutions such as the Lebanese American University (LAU) hopped on the performance bandwagon, making it among the first to cater to art students interested in pursuing a career in the performance arts. It is among a handful of tertiary institutions offering both a bachelor's degree and a minor in Performing Arts.
It seems like Lebanon has become more accepting of professional dancers, and more respectful of dancing as a profession. There is no telling what the future holds for this energetic new trend.

author: Dalia El Ali


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Chinese Foreign Ministry Rebukes Student for Exalting Free Speech in Graduation Remarks · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Screenshot from Yang Shuping's speech on Youtube.
“Democracy and free speech should not be taken for granted. Democracy and freedom are the fresh air that is worth fighting for.”
Just hours after she delivered an impassioned graduation speech reflecting on the value of free speech and civic engagement and concluding with the words above, University of Maryland student Yang Shuping triggered online uproar in China.
Netizens have called her a traitor and a “running dog of the West”. Party and state-affiliated media outlets and even foreign ministry officials are using Yang's speech to prove a recycled conspiracy about overseas Chinese students being contaminated by Western ideology.
The video of her 21 May speech, in which she spoke about fresh air and used this as a metaphor to exalt the free speech environment at the US university, was initially circulated by the WeChat public account of “North America Chinese Student Post”（@北美留學生日報 or @collegedaily). The post marks the speech with strong opinion, calling it “humiliating” for China.
With about 1 million subscribers, @collegedaily is notorious for spreading fake news about western countries,  which often reproduce gender and racial stereotypes as well as nationalistic sentiments. This, along with circulating a distorted translation of Yang's speech, is exactly what Yang has experienced since.
While the Chinese web censor has vowed to crackdown on rumors, media outlets that spread nationalistic sentiments are usually immune to censorship and can even help media outlets gain new followers. Yang's story seems to have done just that.
As the story about Yang “humiliating” China went viral online, her personal information — accounts on Instagram, Weibo, WeChat email, mobile phone number, family background, parents’ occupation and more, were identified and circulated on social media. On 22 May, Yang was forced to delete all the posts from her Weibo and issued an apology:
演讲只是分享自己的留学体验，完全没有对国家及家乡的否定或贬低之意，在此深表歉意，并衷心希望大家给予谅解，今后会吸取教训
The speech was only to share my own experience abroad and did not have any intention of denying or belittling my country and hometown. I deeply apologise and sincerely hope everyone can understand, have learned my lesson for the future…
Her apology has not stopped the uproar. The next day, party-affiliated media outlets added fuel to the nationalist fire. China Youth Net, which is affiliated with the Communist Youth League, accused Yang of “betraying the country for personal honor.” People Daily’s affiliated commentator Xiake Island even associated overseas Chinese students espousing western values with spies.
In a 23 May WeChat post, he wrote:
有的人可能出于个人政治观点仇视现行社会制度，觉得他国‘空气都是甜的’，于是，便想通过间谍活动妄想颠覆现政权。
Some people, due to their own political belief, are resentful to the current social [political system] and they feel “the air is sweet” [a direct quote from Yang’s speech] outside the country. Hence, they want to subvert the state through spying activities.
Another comment from Cawang, a patriotic website promoting nationalistic scholars, further extended the “spy conspiracy” to the University of Maryland and its graduates in China:
（1）杨舒平在日常戏剧创作中也要从政治上抹黑中国；
（2）杨舒平背后的马里兰大学竟是与美国情报部门最紧密的大学，没有之一，甚至超过西点军校；
（3）马里兰大学竟然与xx事件幕后黑手之一李洁明关系密切，并设立对华培训项目；
（4）马里兰大学向中国培训、输送了仇和、张千帆，还有多少西化、推墙官员、学者在潜伏？
1. Yang Shuping also demonizes China in her theatrical activities;
2. Yang’s University of Maryland has the closest connection with US intelligence among all universities, the connection has surpassed Military Academy at West Point;
3. University of Maryland is connected to James Roderick Lilley [former US ambassador in China] who was one of the dark forces behind XX incident [1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy movement]. He organized training projects specifically for Chinese.
4. University of Maryland’s training has exported Qui He [a former Chinese politician who was sentenced to 14.5 years imprisonment in 2016 for corruption], Zhang Qianfan [a law professor at Peking University] and many westernized officials and scholars who wanted to change the political system.
While the first and second points in the Cawang post cannot be proven, the third and fourth merit some additional context. US diplomat and former CIA operative James Lilley was the founding director of the Institute for Global Chinese Affairs at the University of Maryland. He was openly critical of Chinese authorities’ suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests, but also opposed the US government altering relations with China in response to the crackdown. In regards to the fourth item, Qui He studied at the University of Maryland for several months. Zhang Qianfan attended University of Maryland from 1992-1994 for “advanced study in Laws.” Zhang has been very vocal in advocating constitutional reform.
On 25 of May, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang made a rare non-diplomatic comment on the incident:
Chinese citizens should be responsible for the remarks they make. This applies to not only China-related issues, but also other issues…When a citizen makes remarks on his or her own country, regardless of the occasion and the way, others can easily sense the feelings he or she shows towards the motherland.
I also notice that the above-mentioned student has made a statement or, so to speak, an apology later on. She said that she loved her motherland and wished to come back to make contribution to it after graduation. If this is true, I should say that, many young Chinese students are now studying overseas, whose views and perceptions of some things may change and evolve after going abroad. But as long as they love their country deep down in their heart and stand ready to contribute to it, I believe the Chinese government will encourage, support and welcome them.
In 2015, there were about 523,700 overseas Chinese students studying abroad and approximately 80% of the students would return home. The message of foreign ministry can be interpreted as a sign that the Chinese government will only welcome the patriotic students back home. In this case, it appears that “patriotism” is best expressed by making only positive comments about China.
How should Yang’s speech be rewritten to show that she loves the country? Many netizens are asking in Chinese Question and Answer platform Zhihu. Qin Xiaoming, a popular Zhihu rewrote the speech with sarcasm. Below is a partial translation:
很荣幸能代表2017届学生发表演讲。
请允许我先感谢我伟大的祖国，感谢党和政府，感谢国家，感谢人民。
没有党、国家和人民的支持，我绝无可能踏出国门，走上美利坚的土地，到此求学。…
人们常常问我：为什么要不远万里，来到马里兰大学求学？
我的答案只有四个字：消除误解。
西方国家，包括美国，对我的祖国存在较大，较多，较深的误解。我来美国求学的唯一目的，就是让各位看清一个真实的中国，而非你们印象当中的那样。
比如说，中国的空气。很多美国人都认为，中国的空气质量糟糕，各大城市都蔓延着有毒的不能呼吸的空气。
这一说法严重歪曲事实。
实际上，除了像北京、石家庄、济南、郑州、成都、杭州、上海、武汉、西安等在冬季存在少量雾霾，人们出行不得不佩戴专门防霾口罩的城市之外，我们也有昆明、拉萨等常年空气质量优异的城市。
谁说中国没有言论自由？如果我在此次演讲当中顺应了你们的误解，批判中国缺少自由，大洋彼岸在三小时之内，网络的言论即可随意对我进行辱骂，甚至对我的家人和朋友，进行辱骂。
不仅如此，一些媒体，甚至是看似专业的媒体，也会加入到批判我的阵营当中来，这样的言论自由，在全球都是少见的。
在历史长河当中，有很多我这样的远渡重洋求学的人，他们接受完西方的教育，归国之后，高呼西方国家的制度更为先进。
例如晚清留洋的那批人，例如离我们尚且不远的宣扬「德先生」和「赛先生」的那批人。
这些留学生一边宣扬着西方的好，一边指责中国的差。他们不但指责，他们还批判：批判中国的制度，批判中国的国民教育，批判中国的传统文化。
他们不但批判，他们竟然还推翻了自己的国家，搞出了流血革命。
你认为鲁迅爱国吗？胡适爱国吗？陈独秀李大钊爱国吗？
我认为他们统统不爱。…
真正的爱国者，绝对不会觉得西方的制度更好，绝对不会认为美国的民主和自由比中国更好，更绝对不会在中国去鼓吹什么德先生和赛先生。
真正爱国的留学生，是像我今天这样，向大家展示中国的发展，中国的好，而绝非和大家探讨中国的问题。
I am truly honored and grateful to speak at the commencement for the University of Maryland, Class of 2017.
Please allow me to thank my great mother country, party and government. I am deeply grateful to the State and to the people.
Without the support of the party, the state and the people, I could never step out of the country and come to America for study…
People keep asking me why did you travel thousands of miles to study in University of Maryland?
My answer only has four words: clearing up misunderstanding.
Western countries, including the US have many and deep misunderstandings about my motherland. My only objective to study in the US is to help you see a real China, a China different from your impression.
For example, the air in China. Many Americans believe that China’s air quality is very poor and all the cities are surrounded by toxic smog that cannot be inhaled.
Such depiction has seriously distort the fact.
In reality, only Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Jinan, Zhengzhou, Chengdu, Hanzhou, Shanghai, Wuhan, Xian and etc. are slightly suffered from smog during winter time when people have to wear masks that specially designed for smog, we have cities like Kunming and Lhasa with good quality all over the year […]
Who say China does not have freedom of speech. If I follow your misunderstanding in this speech and criticize China for lacking freedom, within three hours across the Pacific ocean, online speech can insult me without any restraint, even my family and friends will be insulted.
Moreover, some media which look professional would join in to criticize me. Such kind of speech freedom can rarely be seen worldwide. […]
In history, many had traveled abroad to receive western education. Apart they return, they claimed that western political system was more advance.
For example, those who studied abroad during late Qing period and those who advocated for Mr. Democracy and Mr. Science in contemporary time.
They not only criticized but had overthrown their state with violent revolution.
Do you consider Lu Xun, Hu Shi, Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao patriots?
I don’t think so…
Real patriots would never think western system is better, would never think the democracy and freedom in the U.S is better than China. They would never advocate for Mr. Democracy and Mr. Science. […]

author: Oiwan Lam


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Facebook ‘Mistakenly’ Censored Tiananmen Massacre Tribute · Global Voices
Hong Kong Free Press

Fung Ka Keung (right) and the June 4 profile picture frame. Photo: Fung Ka Keung/HK Alliance, via Facebook.
This post was written by Ellie Ng and originally published on Hong Kong Free Press on May 30, 2017. The edited version below is republished on Global Voices under a partnership agreement.
Facebook has apologised for “mistakenly” banning the use of a temporary profile picture frame commemorating the Tiananmen Square Massacre, which took place on June 4, 1989.
Facebook’s picture frame function allows users to change their profile photos in support of a cause. The frame in question, pictured above, carries messages calling for justice for Tiananmen protesters and an end to the “dictatorial regime” in China.
It is customary for Hong Kong people to commemorate on social media the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests and victims who sacrificed their lives for a better China. With the 28th anniversary of the massacre approaching, Hong Kong people have been shouting slogans like “Don't forget June 4″, “Vindication of June 4″ and “Put an end to dictatorial regime”. They also held a candle light vigil in the city's Victoria Park.
Acts of commemoration are mostly banned in mainland China. Words such as “Tiananmen”, “June 4″, “1989” are censored online and even images of “candle light” are censored. But in Hong Kong, people are free to talk about their memories and views about the incident on social media.
So when Hong Kong Facebook users learned that Facebook had rejected the June 4 profile photo frame, there was an uproar. People are worried that the Internet giant had traded Hong Kongers’ freedom of expression in an effort to appease China.
Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union Chief Executive Fung Ka-keung, who made the frame, told HKFP that he submitted the item for review at around 5pm on Friday, 26 of May.
He said he received a notification within 24 hours saying that his design was rejected, for failing to meet the company’s terms and policies. Facebook said the frame “belittles, threatens or attacks a particular person, legal entity, nationality or group.”
Fung then submitted on Saturday afternoon another frame showing a candle and the text “Don’t forget June 4,” hoping that Facebook would approve it. On May 30, the frame was still under review.
Critics questioned whether Facebook’s decision was politically motivated. On May 29, after the incident was reported in the news, the social media giant issued an apology and approved the original frame. A spokesperson for Facebook told HKFP:
We mistakenly rejected the said photo frame. We apologise for the incident and have notified the relevant user that the frame has been approved.
But Fung said the response was inadequate.
Facebook should give an explanation, since it hasn’t approved another frame and is taking an unusually long period of time to review it.
I think if I only submitted one frame and it was not approved, it might be a technical problem or an issue with the art. But we have a frame that was originally rejected, and another that is still under review after a long time – it makes people suspect the decision might be political.
More than 1,000 people have switched their profile pictures using the approved frame, according to Fung.
Almost 28 years after Beijing’s violent crackdown on the student-led protests in Tiananmen Square, the incident remains a taboo topic in mainland China. The Chinese government censors books related to the event and blocks online searches of relevant terms.
Beijing has also never given an official death toll for the crackdown, though independent observers tallied more than 1,000 dead.
Facebook has been blocked in China since 2009, but its CEO Mark Zuckerberg has indicated a desire to re-enter the Chinese market.

author: Hong Kong Free Press


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Kazakhstan Is Preparing to Effectively Ban Political Opposition · Global Voices
Dina Baidildayeva

The Kazakh parliament in Astana. Creative commons.
Political opposition never got much of a look in in authoritarian Kazakhstan, where the same man has been in power for over a quarter of a century, but a draft law being considered by the country's rubber stamp parliament is set to make matters even more predictable.
The legislature is presently working on a bill that would ban independent candidates from running for the presidency. The bill approved by the majilis (lower chamber of the parliament) on May 24 is designed to eliminate “non-serious candidates”, according to Justice Minister Marat Beketaev.
The law represents the culmination of tactics the Kazakh government has perfected since independence in 1991. As a rule, genuine opposition candidates are eliminated long before the elections are due. The most typical approach in the past has been the fabrication of criminal cases and even the imprisonment of potential opposition candidates. When the law passes, authorities will no longer have to resort to such attempts.
In a country where there's only one ruling party that belongs to the incumbent president and other parties support him there can be no alternative.
The law is significant since the Ministry of Justice already makes it challenging for opposition movements to register officially as a political party or public association. The most prominent case is the refusal to register the banned opposition party ‘Alga’ (Forward), whose leader Vladimir Kozlov spent five years in jail for “attempting to overthrow the government” and was later released on parole. All the parties in the Kazakh parliament are now loyal to the regime. Another relatively independent party, the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, was dissolved by a controversial court ruling in 2015.
The law may have been drafted with another opponent of veteran President Nursultan Nazarbayev in mind. Fugitive banker and former energy minister Mukhtar Ablyazov, who is being tried on graft charges in absentia in Kazakhstan has stated his intention to topple Nazarbayev and turn Kazakhstan into a parliamentary democracy.
Ablyazov, is believed to be living in exile in France after the Conseil D'Etat, France's supreme court equivalent, ruled against extraditing him to Russia in December 2016.
Kazakh authorities have been accused of using Ablyazov to smother other government critics who are not connected to him. Independent journalist Zhanbolat Mamay, for instance is currently imprisoned and awaiting trial on charges of laundering money received from Ablyazov through the Tribuna newspaper he works at. He has described the charges as absurd.
There is also speculation that Nazarbayev, 76, is preparing to transfer power to a successor who would prolong his regime, which opponents say is characterized by authoritarianism and massive corruption.
Facebook user Alibek Tukenov says the draft bill limits citizens rights to participate in free and fair elections.
There is already a pretty good mechanism to rule out “non-serious” candidates. It is called voting. Voting and running for elections is one of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of our country. Restricting this right by claiming that someone might use it for PR purposes is nonsense and serves to help lobby the interests of certain parties.
Oppositionist Erlan Kaliev points out that the Constitution imposes a fairly high barrier for opposition candidates, making the law unnecessary.
Does this mean that the Parliament doesn't trust the Central Election Commission? It is already written in the Constitution that in order to avoid “non-serious” candidates, that each one must have the support of at least 1% of all voters.
Nazarbayev last won re-election in 2015 with 97.7% of the vote. However, no reputable international observation mission has ever recognised a Kazakh election as free and fair. Typically Nazarbayev's main “opponents” on the ballot have been openly supportive of his policies.

author: Dina Baidildayeva


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Macedonian Students’ Photo Project Reveals Scenes From WWI, Then and Now · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Photo of two children from 1917 Bitola and the same street along river Dragor in 2017. One of them is wearing a French army helmet. Used with permission.
A group of high school students from the southern Macedonian town of Bitola is using photo collages to revive local memories of the First World War.
A hundred years ago, Macedonia was part of the so-called Macedonian Front, also known as Salonica Front (after Thessaloniki) or Eastern Front in French (Front d'Orient), which is roughly along the current border with Greece. From March to October 1917, the Allied-held city of Bitola was devastated by 13 major artillery bombardments by the Central Powers, which included the use of poison gas.
Fast forward to 2017, high school students who participated in a project enabling kids from several cities to learn more about the period prepared an exhibition of photographs of Bitola then and now. They juxtaposed the photos of their city taken in 1917 or 1918 with the actual sites today.
The resulting photographs show how Bitola has changed in 100 years. They drew much social media attention after some of them were published on Bored Panda.
Besides photographs, another type of “memento” from this historic period are unexploded ordnance – grenades, cannon shells and bombs which still litter the area. Residents continue to unearth such dangerous artifacts at least once a year.
Displaying of collages combining old photos in new context. Photo by ALDA – Skopje, used with permission.
The overall project included diverse student groups from Skopje, Tetovo, Strumica and Bogdanci, who together with their peers in Bitola participated in workshops based on peace-building methodology and explored the old battlegrounds through field visits. Each group then chose different methods to show what they've learned, making a short video, interactive map, and a diary of a soldier.
Teaching young people about the horrors experienced by ordinary people in previous wars enables them to become active agents in preventing new conflicts. This is especially important at a time when nationalists continue to open the old wounds from recent Balkan wars, including those from the 2001 armed conflict in Macedonia, to mobilize political support.
Photograph showing Allied soldiers marching along Bitola main street a hundred years ago. Used with permission.
Global Voices received permission to republish the photographs thanks to the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA) – Skopje, which implemented the project with the aid of the British Embassy in Skopje. The participants of the project include Professor Iljo Trajkovski and students Viktorija Vodilovska, Eva Kraus, Vesna Trajchevska, Marijan Kotevski, Blagoj Janakievski, and Gorazd Dimovski.
Citizens of Bitola are proud of preserving some of the old buildings, built during the time when their city was a provincial capital of the Ottoman Empire and seat of foreign consuls. The pictured building serves as Primary Music School. Used with permission.
Then and now. How the Army Club, built in 1911, looked in 1917 and today, through two photos. Used with permission.
The companion piece of the above photo, showing the other side of the street. Used with permission.
Some of the damaged buildings during the 1917 bombardments had been repaired and are still standing today. Used with permission.
A scene from the Bitola Old Bazaar. Used with permission.
Officers in British and Serbian uniforms walking on Shirok Sokak, the main shopping street in Bitola. Used with permission.
A preserved house in Bitola. Used with permission.
A house which brandished  an UK flag a hundred years ago, possibly used by the army. Used with permission.
Children taking a photo in front of St. Dimitri church in Bitola. Used with permission.
Serbian officers driving through Bitola centre alongside Dragor river. Used with permission.


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Old Names Dominate Nepal’s First Local Polls in 20 Years · Global Voices
Sanjib Chaudhary

Voters queuing to cast their votes at a local polling booth in Kamalamai Municipality, Sindhuli district during the first phase of local elections. Photo by Saurav Dhakal. Used with permission.
After 20 years, Nepal held the first phase of local elections on May 14, 2017 in three provinces. The second phase of the elections for the remaining four provinces has been rescheduled on June 23, 2017.
But counting is criticized for being slow. It took the Election Commission 14 days before announcing the new mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, the country's capital.
Despite the aggressive campaign of new parties to grab power at the local level, the final results of the first phase of the local polls have gone in favour of the three major parties – Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist), Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist – Centre).
It took Nepal 20 years before it was able to conduct the local polls because of a Maoist insurgency in 2002 and the decision of major parties to boycott the 2006 local polls.
The 2017 local polls, which produced a turnout of over 70 percent, saw Nepalis choosing their local representatives for the first time in a federal set-up. With the promulgation of new constitution in 2015, a three tier governance system was introduced namely national, provincial and local levels of governance.
Slow Counting
However, the Election Commission has attracted criticisms from all corners for the snail’s pace of vote counting.
Cartoonist Rajesh KC tweeted:
#NepalVotes #NepalCounts pic.twitter.com/dGqrHyo6eg
— PHALANO™ (@phalano) May 17, 2017
Another cartoonist Rabindra Manandhar tweeted:
मतगणनाको ताजा फोटु pic.twitter.com/akJYs4sqOQ
— Rabindra Manandhar (@Robindarr) May 15, 2017
Fresh photo of the vote counting
Cartoonist Abin Shrestha posted a cartoon that says: Seems “metro” will arrive earlier than “mayor”, hinting at the parties’ promises to bring metro rail to Kathmandu.
अाजकाे कान्तिपुरबाट… pic.twitter.com/g89YVkYMCV
— Abin Shrestha (@abinshrestha) May 16, 2017
From today's Kantipur…
Women Candidates Emerge Victorious
Despite the slow counting, the first phase of local elections has been successful in electing women candidates as mayors, chiefs, deputy mayors, and deputy chiefs in municipalities and village councils. Four municipalities and eight village councils have chosen women candidates as their heads.
Women have emerged victorious in 263 municipalities and village councils as deputy mayors and deputy chiefs. Likewise, 13,000 women including 6,500 belonging to Dalit (so-called untouchable) community have been elected to ward committees.
Even the Kathmanduites voted in large numbers for 21-year old Ranju Darshana.
Big Parties Remain Dominant
However, most of the seats were won by the same three big parties – Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist), Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist – Centre) although there are almost a hundred political parties in Nepal.
The social media users compared it to the habit of Nepalis choosing momos and chow mein despite glancing through restaurant menus for a long time.
Reality ??#LocalElections2017 pic.twitter.com/n8nL6Z7MHZ
— गम्भीरमान (@SachinBhattarai) May 16, 2017
The public looked at the menu, looked for all, thought what to eat for a long time.
At the end chose momos and chow mien.
That’s the local elections.
Update June 1, 2017: The Nepalese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bimalendra Nidhi has said that the second phase of the elections are set to be rescheduled for June 28 and that the Cabinet would take a decision to this effect soon.

author: Sanjib Chaudhary


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PHOTOS: More Than 70,000 Displaced by Clashes Between Philippine Troops and Suspected ISIS-Backed Group · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A multipurpose hall was converted into a temporary evacuation center for residents displaced by the armed conflict in Marawi. Photo by Ina Alleco Roldan Silverio, an employee of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Used with permission.
The Philippine government’s military offensives against a local group suspected of having ties with ISIS have displaced thousands of residents in Marawi City, located in the southern island of Mindanao.
On May 23, militants belonging to the Maute group reportedly attacked and occupied various buildings in Marawi. Because of the group’s alleged connection to ISIS, the Philippine president declared martial law in Mindanao and ordered the military to arrest Maute members and stop the spread of extremism.
Mindanao has a significant Muslim population. Some groups there are struggling for self-determination which is the subject of an ongoing peace process, but they have denounced the actions of the Maute outfit.
Martial law may be directed against the Maute group, but it led to the mass evacuation of Marawi residents to nearby towns. Thousands of families have fled their homes in order to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
As of May 30, 2017, in the morning, the government said 14,313 families or 71,115 persons are affected by the armed conflict in Marawi. The government said 20 evacuation centers are open with 2,261 families or 10,809 persons. Because of the lack of facilities, thousands went to other towns seeking refuge. Some were seen walking while carrying their few belongings.
A week after the martial law declaration, the government claimed it’s already in control of Marawi. But improving the situation of the bakwit (evacuees) seems a bigger challenge for local leaders who are now assessing the impact of martial law and the attacks of the Maute group.
We were able to distribute family food packs to affected civilians in some hard-to-reach baranggays in Marawi City yesterday. pic.twitter.com/rLL28EfjTC
— Sec. Judy Taguiwalo (@sec_judy) May 30, 2017
Below are photos that show residents fleeing Marawi, the conditions inside evacuation centers, and the situation in a city controlled by the military:
Soldiers were deployed in Marawi City after the declaration of martial law. Source: Facebook page of Kathy Yamzon. Used with permission.
Some farmers couldn't leave their animals behind as they flee the city of Marawi. Source: Facebook page of Kathy Yamzon. Used with permission.
After a city lockdown was enforced in Marawi, thousands scrambled for available means of transportation to escape the city. Source: Facebook page of Kathy Yamzon. Used with permission.
A “sanctuary” for Marawi evacuees in the town of Saguiaran, Lanao Del Sur. Photo taken by Jerome Succor Aba. Used with permission.
A typical evacuation center in a government facility. Photo from the Facebook page of Ina Alleco Roldan Silverio, an employee of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Used with permission.

author: Mong Palatino


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Police Threaten Maldivian Bloggers Abroad With Arrest Over Twitter · Global Voices
Rezwan

Blogger and activist Muju Naeem. Image used with permission
Four independent Maldivian bloggers and activists living overseas have been issued arrest warrants by police over the past week. Police have also threatened to seek prosecution in absentia if the bloggers fail to return to the Maldives within two weeks.
Police put out warrants for Muzaffar ‘Muju’ Naeem, Hani Amir, Dr. Azra Naseem, and Aishath Velezinee via separate press releases and in public tweets. This was the warrant sent to blogger Muju Naeem, a pro-democracy and secularist blogger from Maldives who has been living in voluntary self-exile nearly five years:
Press Statement: PMC/2017/15https://t.co/vo3oXbUGGv pic.twitter.com/F49ATe9IO6
— Maldives Police (@PoliceMv) May 29, 2017
Muju Naeem translated the warrant on his blog:
Muzaffar Mohamed Naeem (age 37) of M. Velidhooge, K. Male’ is wanted for an investigation the Maldives Police Service [are] carrying out.
Since we have information that Muzaffar Mohamed Naeem is currently living abroad, he is asked to present himself to the Maldives Police Service within 14 days to respond in his defense to accusations against him in our investigation.
If Muzaffar Mohamed Naeem doesn’t present himself to Maldives Police Service within these 14 days, we will be forwarding evidence against him in our investigation to the Prosecutor General of the Maldives to proceed with prosecution in his absentia. This notice has been issued to inform Muzaffar Mubeen Naeem of this matter.
The document offers no further details concerning the nature of the police investigation or any evidence they have against Naeem. Naeem writes:
Arrest warrants were prompted by ruling party parliamentary leader Ahmed Nihan’s call to arrest and prosecute all “irreligious” people in the country to the full extent of the law.
According to the Maldivian Independent, at a recent rally of the ruling coalition, Progressive Party parliamentarian leader Ahmed Nihan mentioned that Maldivians who insult Islam should be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law. There have been instances of religious extremists branding targeted people's homes with “irreligious/secular” in the Maldives.
Naeem has received persistent online threats and harassment by extremists for his secular views and by political critics for his online video series collaboration with slain blogger Yameen Rasheed (see Global Voices report).
After Yameen's death, Naeem wrote a fiery open letter to the President and the government of the Maldives criticizing the government's inaction before the growing problem of violent extremism in Maldives. He recently also appeared on a podcast with “The Secular Jihadists of the Middle East“, a group of atheist and exMuslim hosts including Yasmine Mohammad, Ali Rizvi, Faisal Saeed Al Mutar and Armin Navabi.
The second blogger to receive a warrant was 27-year-old Hani Amir (@Burakashi), an environmentalist, artist and photographer, who is currently studying in Australia. Speaking to the Maldives Independent, Hani mentioned that the bloggers were targeted because they promote secularism or secularists.
@yaamyn‘s writings on Maldives, Secularism, Standing up for Maldivian Minorities, and Fighting Religious Radicalism https://t.co/L8yoPs5fRt
— Hani ? (@Burakashi) May 28, 2017
The third warrant was for Dr. Azra Naseem, the author of Dhivehi Sitee, a progressive blog on Maldivian society and politics with a special focus on the religious radicalisation of Maldivian people. Dr. Naseem works as a research fellow at the Dublin City University and has been living in Dublin, Ireland since 1998. She told the Maldives Independent “I really have no idea what the summons are about. I have not done anything illegal.”
On 23 May, the police also issued a similar warrant against Aishath Velezinee, a fiercely independent campaigner for judicial reform and a former Judicial Services Commission member who lives in the Netherlands and blogs here. Her Twitter account (@Velezinee) was also recently suspended. According to the online news portal Raajje.mv, Velezinee has received recent notoriety due to a number of posts on Facebook, including videos that some perceived as sacrilegious.
People reacted to the trend on Twitter:
Arrest Warrant of @Manje & @mujunaeem Was Directed by @JamiyyathSalaf AKA DotGroup of #Maldives They Control PresidentYAG!#IntelTomatoSauce
— Moh'd Jaymes ?❓ (@DrJaymes) May 30, 2017
Calling for justice, speaking out against violent extremism, & demanding our rights have become an ‘irreligious activity’ in #Maldives
— Mirus Daily? (@MirusDaily) May 20, 2017
Hello @PoliceMv ,when you summon people,you are required to inform them of the reason.Pls have a look at Section 105 of your "Aanmu Gavaidh" pic.twitter.com/OHL4asZ0e2
— Hisaan ? (@hisaanhussain) May 29, 2017
These arrest warrants appear intended to silence voices that are critical of the government or deemed “irreligious” and who are doing so from a foreign country. A number of online activists residing inside Maldives have stopped publishing material for fear of further attacks or persecution, while some are seeking asylum abroad.

author: Rezwan


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For Afro-Colombians, Police Racism Is a ‘Daily Reality’ · Global Voices
Shirley Campbell Barr

Screenshot from a video of Carlos Angulo, which went viral in 2015 and sparked discussions about racism in Colombia's police and judiciary.
The debate around racism and police abuse in Colombia exploded on social media in 2015 with the publication of a video of an Afro-Colombian man named Carlos Angulo being stopped by the police. And although it has been more than a year since it first appeared, the conversation surrounding what the footage reveals about justice (or lack thereof) has hardly faded.
The video shows Angulo on his way to work at around 8 a.m., when he is stopped and searched by police. Judging by his reaction, this situation is not out of the ordinary for him. Angulo raises his voice and sounds frustrated, all the while giving a clear speech against racism, defending civil rights and denouncing the discrimination he says he suffers day-to-day in Colombia.
Vienen pasando cada cinco minutos más de 200 personas y escoges exactamente a los dos negros que vienen pasando para requisarles. Y nos detienes, y asumes una actitud grosera […Pero] claro, somos iguales ante la Ley. Son las ocho de la mañana… ¡Es normal que lleve prisa! Pero mi prisa es sospechosa […] Para el patrón es sospechoso que llegue tarde y para ustedes es sospechoso que vaya rápido […] ¿Me pones entre la espada y la pared y luego me tratas de extremista?
There are more than 200 people passing by every five minutes and you choose exactly the two black people who pass to search us. And you stop us, and you treat us rudely […But] of course, we are equal in the eyes of the Law. It's 8 o'clock in the morning… It's normal that I'm in a hurry! But my haste is suspicious […] For my boss it's suspicious for me to arrive late, and for you it's suspicious for me to walk quickly […] You put me between a rock and a hard place, and then you call me extremist?
The resulting discussion about the video and the everyday racism it is said to expose has been broad. Various organizations that defend the rights of Afro-Colombians have reacted by condemning how police discrimination forces them to live in a hostile version of their own country.
According to activist Aiden Salgado Palenquero, who is a member of the organization Conafro – Marcha patriótica:
…Indudablemente, lo que le pasó a Carlos es pan de cada día para los jóvenes afrocolombianos. ¿Cuántos de nosotros hemos armado protestas como estas? No es la primera vez que a Carlos lo detiene un policía; muchos de nosotros y hemos pasado por este mismo hecho, y no solo en Bogotá. Esto sucede en Medellín, Cartagena, Barranquilla, Cali, Pereira, en todo el país y fuera de él…
Without a doubt, what happened to Carlos is a daily reality for young Afro-Colombians. How many of us have protested like this? It's not the first time Carlos has been detained by the police; many of us have been through the same experience, and not only in Bogotá. This happens in Medellín, Cartagena, Barranquilla, Cali, Pereira, all over the country and beyond…
For many, given that these struggles receive little attention in Colombia, the topic is often discussed within the framework of police abuse of black people in the US and the activism surrounding it. However, racism in law enforcement is far from an exclusively North American phenomenon, as highlighted in the report by Andrés Páramo Izquierdo for Vice:
“…de acuerdo con la Encuesta de Policía y Desigualdad, desarrollada por ese centro, las personas afro o indígenas que tienen encuentros con la policía son requisadas el 32% de los casos; el resto de la población, el 26%. Los perfiles de hombres de raza negra hechos en Cali muestran cómo el prejuicio gana de forma sistemática: no solamente la policía los aborda de forma agresiva y preventiva, sino que siempre hay una mención a la raza: “este negro”, “ese negro tan agresivo, hijueputa”, “negro hijueputa”, “ah, que deje la bulla, negro hijueputa”…
…according to the Survey of Police and Inequality, conducted by this center, people of African descent and indigenous people who have encounters with the police are searched in 32% of cases; for the rest of the population, the figure is 26%. The profiles of black men in Cali show how prejudice systematically wins: not only do the police approach them in an aggressive and preventive manner, but there is always some mention of race: “this black guy”, “such an aggressive black guy, son-of-a-bitch”, “black son-of-a-bitch”, “oh, stop making a fuss, black son-of-a-bitch”…
There have also been debates and disagreements on social media about the representation of racism. For Felipe Arias-Escobar, the problem in Colombia is the difficulty in identifying discrimination in the country when it does not match popular understandings of racism:
@jeinzu Un gran problema para abordar el racismo en Colombia ha sido el no encontrar una segregación “institucional” o estereotipada.
— Felipe Arias-Escobar (@Feloarias) May 22, 2017
A big problem with addressing racism in Colombia has been that we're not looking for “institutional” or stereotypical segregation.
Other videos have also sparked controversy. One, shared by user La Cabellera de la Noche, showed a confrontation between the police and a group of young Afro-Colombians. However, even more noteworthy than the video itself are the comments it generated in response:
Las respuestas a este video hablan por si solas, y hay gente que se atreve a negar el racismo en Colombia, Felíz #DiadelaAfrocolombianidadhttps://t.co/xzcwJgXtEZ
— LaCabelleraDeLaNoche (@afroconsciente) May 21, 2017
The responses to this video speak for themselves, and there are people who dare to deny that racism exists in Colombia, Happy #Afro-ColombianDay
@NueveYDos@ANGELCA24158241@DianaMunozC@ClaudiaLopez Busque las causas de delincuencia en la población afro en cuanto a oportunidades en todos los campos y se llevará una sorpresa!
— Rodrigo Perea (@rodrijoperea) May 21, 2017
Tweet from @NueveYDos: Afro-Colombians are also aggressive, Afro-Colombians also commit crimes, look up the crime statistics in Colombia, you'll be surprised
Tweet from @rodrijoperea: Look up the causes of crime in the Afro-Colombian population [and their relationship with lack of] opportunities in all fields and you'll be surprised!
Information on the situation of people of African descent throughout Latin America and their relationship with police and the justice system is lacking. According to the UNICEF report “Youth Criminal Justice: Situation and perspectives in Latin America and the Caribbean“, in most countries in the region there's no official data that could allow a better view on these discriminations, and the report highlights that the limited or non-existent statistical information also constitutes a form of discrimination. Thus, in Ecuador, Nicaragua, or Venezuela, the statistics that describe the social situation of communities of African descent are scarce or non-existent, even while the incarcerated population includes a significant number of young people of African descent.
Meanwhile, the report says security policies that are often defended by the most conservative sectors of society “portray adolescents and young people [of African descent] as dangerous people [and with this] racial prejudice is added to social vulnerabilities and phenomena such as gangs and drug trafficking.”
For movements that advocate the rights of people of African descent, the issues of police harassment, the criminalization of young people, and the limited access to justice not only exist, but are an integral part of structural racism in the justice system. Many of these organizations have been drawing attention to these inequalities for some time, both nationally and internationally.
At the same time, young people from communities of African descent receive harsher penalties or especially strong mistreatment in prison, as shown in a study by Felipe González and Jorge Contesse, and a report from the Colombian office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
…En centros penitenciarios como la cárcel distrital “La Modelo”, ubicada en Bogotá, los afrodescendientes “carecen incluso de lugar para dormir y se han visto obligados a ocupar, como los más pobres entre los pobres, un intersticio entre dos pabellones (por donde pasan los tubos de agua y desagüe, y los cables de electricidad) […] [Muchos] están en prisión por varios años y su situación revela la falta de una defensa profesional idónea.
…In correctional facilities like district prison “La Modelo”, located in Bogotá, people of African descent “do not even have anywhere to sleep and have been obliged to occupy, like the poorest of the poor, the space between two blocks (where water and wastewater pipes and electrical cables pass) […] [Many of them] are in prison for several years and their situation reveals the lack of an appropriate professional defense.

author: Shirley Campbell Barr


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Mexico’s Indigenous Peoples Select a Woman to Represent Their Resistance in Upcoming Presidential Election · Global Voices
Giovanna Salazar

“Indigenous Governing Council.” Image from @CNI_Mexico, the Twitter account of the National Indigenous Congress
In a historic decision for Mexico, the country's indigenous peoples appointed María de Jesús Patricio Martínez as spokeswoman for the National Indigenous Governing Council, with the intent for her to run as an independent candidate in the upcoming presidential elections of 2018.
The various communities selected her on May 28, 2017, while gathered together at the National Indigenous Congress (CNI, for its initials in Spanish), which was backed by leftist political group Zapatista Army of National Liberation.
La compañera María de Jesús Patricio Martinez es la Vocera del Concejo Indígena de Gobierno #CNI #CIG pic.twitter.com/ROLJUBrvu5
— SubVersiones AAC (@SubVersionesAAC) May 28, 2017
The colleague María de Jesús Patricio Martinez is the spokeswoman of the Indigenous Governing Council
The idea of setting up the Council, whose voice would be “materialized by an indigenous woman,” arose in October 2016, after the Fifth National Indigenous Congress. At the conclusion of that Congress, and marking its 20 years of existence, the CNI and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation announced the proposal — which would be submitted for consultation to its members — in a joint statement entitled “May the earth tremble at its core”:
Ratificamos que nuestra lucha no es por el poder, no lo buscamos; sino que llamaremos a los pueblos originarios y a la sociedad civil a organizarnos para detener esta destrucción, fortalecernos en nuestras resistencias y rebeldías, es decir en la defensa de la vida de cada persona, cada familia, colectivo, comunidad o barrio. De construir la paz y la justicia rehilándonos desde abajo, desde donde somos lo que somos.
We reaffirm that our struggle is not for power, we do not seek it; rather we will call on the indigenous peoples and civil society to organize ourselves to stop this destruction, to strengthen our resistances and rebellions, that is, the defense of the life of every person, every family, group, community or neighborhood. To build peace and justice by reweaving ourselves from below, from where we are what we are.
According to the CNI, 523 communities from 25 states and 43 indigenous peoples approved the proposal in December 2016, so that the constitution of the Council and the appointment of their respective spokesperson would take place in May 2017.
In its press release at that time, the CNI stated the following regarding the Indigenous Governing Council (CIG, its initials in Spanish):
El CIG es la parte medular de la propuesta que el CNI hace al país y a los pueblos indígenas. Es la forma de cómo nos organizaremos nacionalmente desde abajo y a la izquierda para gobernar este país, desde la otra política, la de los pueblos, la de la asamblea, la de la participación de todas y todos.  Es la forma en que los pueblos nos organizamos para tomar las decisiones sobre los asuntos y problemas que nos competen a todas y todos. Es la otra forma de hacer política, desde la horizontalidad, desde el análisis y la toma de decisiones colectiva.
The CIG is the core of the CNI's proposal to the country and to the indigenous peoples. It is the way in which we will organize ourselves nationwide from below and to the left to govern this country based on the other politics, that of the peoples, of the assembly, of the participation of all and everyone. It is the way in which we the people organize ourselves to make decisions on the issues and problems that involve all of us. It is the other way of doing politics, from horizontality, and through collective analysis and decision-making.
Precisely with the aim of distancing themselves from the narrative of political parties, and in order to abide by their collective forms of organization and representation, both the CNI and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation have insisted that it is not a question of promoting a candidate but a spokesperson:
Ella será quién lleve la voz del Concejo Indígena de Gobierno a todo el país, a todo el mundo. Ella será quién lleve la voz de los pueblos y de la sociedad civil. Ella será nosotros, nosotras.
She will be the one to carry the voice of the Indigenous Governing Council to the whole country, to the whole world. She will be the voice of the peoples and civil society. She will be us.
At least 848 delegates and councillors from about 60 indigenous peoples of the country, as well as the General Command of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, participated in the nomination Assembly.
Que se estremezca este país con la resistencia, la rebeldía y la dignidad de todos los pueblos de México. #CNI #CIG pic.twitter.com/cd9HlCtlQE
— CNI México (@CNI_Mexico) May 28, 2017
Let this country shake with the resistance, rebellion and dignity of all the peoples of Mexico.
María de Jesús Patricio Martínez (also known as Marichuy) is a traditional medicine doctor and Nahua from Tuxpan in the state of Jalisco. In 2010, she stated her desire for an organization like the recently created National Indigenous Governing Council:
Anhelo una organización de abajo hacia arriba, en la que se mande obedeciendo y se respeten los acuerdos de todos.
I long for an organization managed from the bottom up, in which all agreements are obeyed and respected.
In the following Spanish-language AJ+ video made prior to her appointment as spokesperson, Marichuy herself emphasizes the importance of choosing an indigenous woman to raise awareness of the problems, struggles and traditions of indigenous communities during the elections.
The 2018 presidential elections will be the first to allow the nomination of independent candidates. But, in order to do so, the candidates must fulfill a series of requirements established in the Seventh Book of the General Law on Electoral Institutions and Procedures. They include:
It remains to be seen whether María de Jesús Patricio Martínez's candidacy will succeed in meeting the deadlines and requirements of the Mexican electoral system. However, there is profound symbolism in the mere act of promoting and appointing her — a woman who will not only work to make historically silenced indigenous communities a presence on the political landscape, but is indigenous herself. As spokesperson, her aim will be to realize the National Indigenous Congress motto: “Never again a Mexico without us!”
In her own words, as captured in this video:
Nuestra participación es por la vida, es por esa reconstrucción de nuestros pueblos que han sido golpeados por años y años.
Our participation is for [the right to] life, it is for the reconstruction of our peoples who have been beaten for years and years.

author: Giovanna Salazar


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Online Trolls Attack Critics of India’s Aadhaar State ID System · Global Voices
Rohith Jyothish

Thumbprint image via Pixabay. CC0 public domain.
India's biometric state ID system has been leaking citizens’ data for months. When this information surfaced in April 2017, it stoked fears that the system could be used as an instrument of surveillance against Indian residents.
The Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI), which administrates the system known as Aadhaar (meaning foundation in Hindi) maintains that it only collects minimal personal data and stores it securely. But critics have firmly expressed doubts about these claims.
Repeat after me: Aadhaar is surveillance technology masquerading as secure authentication technology.
— Sunil Abraham (@sunil_abraham) February 24, 2017
The implications of these leaks, and of any system flaw in Aadhaar technology, are substantial, especially for Indians who depend on the Aadhaar system in order to authenticate their identities when they use any number of government services. The Aadhaar system has become the gatekeeper of state systems and services ranging from voting to financial savings to food subsidies.
The digital sphere is now starting to see a pushback against Aadhaar critics through articles and blogposts that describe concerned citizens and privacy experts as the ‘anti-Aadhaar brigade‘ and accuse them of publishing “half-truths” and “spread[ing] confusion to advance their own interests.” One such article was even featured on the UIDAI website.
Some of the most well-researched critiques of the system have come from the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), an inter-disciplinary research organisation in Bangalore that has now become a target of the pro-Aadhaar lobby. Shortly after CIS released a report that pointed out security flaws in the Aadhaar ecosystem, the UIDAI accused the organization of hacking into the Aadhaar system themselves.
In fact, CIS had investigated databases of four specific government websites. Three were available publicly, the fourth one was accessible by simply changing one of the URL parameters. Following the accusation from UIDAI, CIS clarified that the Aadhaar numbers along with other sensitive personal financial information like bank account details were made available by government websites themselves, putting a sizeable portion of Indian citizens at risk of financial fraud.
The Press Trust of India (India's largest news agency) referred to it as a “flip-flop”, which was contested by researchers at CIS.
Points to note: 1) As per OED, this was a “leak”. So PTI report this morning on our clarification is 100% wrong on that. 1/ https://t.co/ywhCzVZFn3
— Pranesh Prakash (@pranesh) May 19, 2017
Independent technology news platform Medianama reported that the accusation by the UIDAI is regrettably consistent with previous actions in which they filed a case against a journalist for exposing flaws in Aadhaar's enrollment mechanism.
A website called ‘Support Aadhaar‘ and its Twitter handle sought to collate opinions supporting Aadhaar and quell those speaking against it. However, most of their messages appear to evade or deflect the concerns that critics have raised by touting the benefits of the system and portraying critics as having a poor understanding of the benefits of technology.
Many Twitter users have also begun noticing patterns in the pro-Aadhaar posts:
Delicious irony, when those fighting for privacy list themselves on their site, but pro-surveillance (ahem, @UIDAI) stay anonymous. pic.twitter.com/dQchSby6zQ
— Aravind R S (@aravindet) May 5, 2017
@jackerhack @DiptiDaveNair @YourStoryCo @SharmaShradha @thej @iotakodali Did @YourStoryCo verified authorship? many parts of the text is a copy paste from an Aadhaar support website with extra care on anonymity.
— Anivar Aravind (@anivar) May 8, 2017
“About” page is still devoid of info. Domain reg. info is anonymized. Now safe to conclude that this is just astroturfing. https://t.co/gmzUieFFnH
— Nilesh Trivedi (@nileshtrivedi) May 17, 2017
Meanwhile, several critics of Aadhaar have repeatedly been trolled by anonymous handles on Twitter:
1 / @TheKenWeb throw your ethics/ code of conducts books, suggest you burn them, look at your house first – full of horse shit you talk
— Indiaforward (@Indiaforward2) May 3, 2017
.@hasgeek Three guiding principles of Hasgeek and @jackerhack
Greed, Profit & Deceit
Got to know from people who have worked with them in the past!
— Rahul (@criticrahul) May 8, 2017
These ‘sock puppet’ accounts seemed to be targeting those who criticise Aadhaar on social media.
So many sock puppet accounts have popped up to defend Aadhaar, almost all of them have fewer followers than tweets.
— @kingslyj (@kingslyj) May 7, 2017
One of the most active trolls issued an open challenge to reveal their identity with just their Aadhaar number.
@KunalWalia @SupportAadhaar @sharads @UIDAI You challenged me to give you my Aadhaar # and I did that. Now pls unmask me. Pls compromise my privacy! If you can't pls stop bullshitting.
— Confident India (@Confident_India) May 5, 2017
Technology entrepreneur Kiran Jonnalagadda accepted the challenge and found that ‘@Confident_India’, one of the many anonymous troll Twitter handles, is Sharad Sharma, the co-founder and director of iSPIRT Foundation (Indian Software Product Industry Roundtable), the software lobby that built the backbone of the Aadhaar ecosystem.
Screenshot from iSPIRT website.
Sharma accidentally tweeted a denial from the troll account which has since been deleted. He then tweeted again from his personal handle which was captured.
@Product_Nation You can't make this up.@sharads accidentally tweeted his denial from *another* anon troll account (then deleted it)
Boss, stop digging. pic.twitter.com/URzZzKkU4p
— Karthik Balakrishnan (@karthikb351) May 18, 2017
iSPIRT officially denied allegations by Jonnalgadda that the “evidence presented is a deliberate misreading of our intent to engage with those speaking against India Stack.” India Stack is the digital infrastructure that has been built over Aadhaar.
But several other Twitter users have confirmed that Sharma's phone number is linked to ‘@Confident_India’.
@nixxin @Confident_India I looked up the number @jackerhack has shared in his tweet on FB, and … pic.twitter.com/ZDldC28yAG
— Manish Singh (@refsrc) May 17, 2017
By their own admission, iSPIRT seemed to have an officially sanctioned project intended to systematically challenge anti-Aadhaar campaigners in online platforms. But they refuse to term these actions as “trolling”.
However, Sharma later made an apology for trolling and called it a “lapse of judgement”:
On my flight back from the US, I reflected on my recent behaviour on Twitter…. I unreservedly apologize to all who were hurt… more below pic.twitter.com/IinZIg2yi2
— Sharad Sharma (@sharads) May 23, 2017
CIS Executive Director Sunil Abraham seemed to appreciate the message. He tweeted:
Bravo to @sharads for this! All of us at @cis_india look fwd to collaborating with @Product_Nation & @sharads to serve Indian s/w sector. https://t.co/TEz0fxnloo
— Sunil Abraham (@sunil_abraham) May 23, 2017
Others were less forgiving:
This all was public. Even today people by congratulating an apology are enabling future abuse & intimidation. This will happen again.
— Apar (@aparatbar) May 23, 2017
That this has gone on so long points to a serious lapse in governance at iSpirt. An apology is not enough. Actual change is needed. 6/6
— Kiran Jonnalagadda (@jackerhack) May 23, 2017
iSPIRT is an initiative which finds far-reaching support from several IT industry leaders in India. What is worrying is that there is still no clarification from iSPIRT on the identities of the other anonymous trolls and their position on trolling against genuine concerns raised by citizens.
Query for those who support #Aadhaar:
2. Is using trolls and anonymous accounts the best way to make a case for #Aadhaar?
— Saikat Datta (@saikatd) May 19, 2017
More than a week after the trolling revelations, iSPIRT announced on its website, the results of an investigation carried out by an Internal Guidelines and Compliance Committee over the allegations against Sharma of operating the anonymous handles, ‘@Confident_India’ and ‘@Indiaforward2′. Jonnalgadda was one of the trolling victims who testified in the internal meeting. A summary of the investigation was posted bafflingly by the accused himself in which he says that project Sudham has been dissolved and that he has been told to not make public appearances on behalf of iSPIRT for four months while he remains Director and the face of the organisation. FactorDaily reported that iSPIRT members on the condition of anonymity said that Pallav Nadhani (Founder, Chief Executive, FusionCharts) and Naveen Tewari (Co-founder, InMobi) who quit iSPIRT were upset with their excessive focus on India Stack.
One wonders whether this kind of behaviour would be treated differently if it took place offline. Is intimidating those who appear to be ‘detractors’ the most effective way of dealing with criticism? Why is a software lobby taking it upon themselves to defend the idea of Aadhaar and India Stack through such means?
Many are hoping that experts on both sides of the issue can find a way to debate questions around the privacy and security of Aadhaar's technology — that affect some 1.3 billion people — in a more democratic way.

author: Rohith Jyothish


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Russia’s Internet Censor Asked for a PornHub Premium Subscription. PornHub Gave It 10 · Global Voices
RuNet Echo

No Porn. Public Domain Photo from Pixabay.
Shortly after Roskomnadzor, Russia's Internet censor, added PornHub to its registry of blocked websites in September of 2016 (in the name of preventing minors from being able to access pornography), the online porn website made Roskomnadzor an offer: unblock PornHub in Russia and it would receive a free premium account.
At the time, Roskomnadzor rejected the proposal, suggesting that watching online porn might hurt Russian demographic growth.
sorry, we are not in the market and the demography is not a commodity.
— Роскомнадзор (@roscomnadzor) September 15, 2016
But yesterday, little more than a month after Roskomnadzor unblocked PornHub in Russia (users must now enter their date of birth before being given access to the website), Vadim Ampelonsky, a Roskomnadzor representative, said his agency is ready to cash in on PornHub's offer.
Speaking on a panel at the SPIK 2017 Internet Conference in St. Petersburg with Dmitry Kolodin, a digital specialist at PornHub, Ampelonsky said he had yet to receive his free premium account. Kolodin responded that he would receive a subscription as soon as PornHub's headquarters in Montreal opened on Tuesday.
Source: Felix Zinatullin, VKontakte.
According to Felix Zinatullin, a marketing executive who attended SPIK and called attention to the exchange on VKontakte, Ampeonsky said he would make sure that all Russian Internet providers had granted users access to Pornhub in return for the premium subscription.
Today, the website TJournal reported that PornHub has given Ampelonsky 10 free premium subscriptions, five of which he offered to TJournal employees “for charitable purposes.”

author: RuNet Echo


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The Myth of the ‘Nice Canadian’ · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Canadian Ned Flanders. Screencap from YouTube.
Global Voices recently asked our editors: What is the most misunderstood aspect of the place you live, or where you're from?
Their responses will be published as part of an ongoing series debunking myths and offering a more nuanced take on certain parts of the world. The latest installment is by Global Voices Japan editor Nevin Thompson, who splits his time between Canada and Japan.
The question I get asked the most in Japan: “Are you American?”
“Uh, sorry,” I say, “I'm actually originally from Canada.” I've lived in Japan, on and off, since 1994. Depending on the situation, it's considered polite to express interest in whoever you're talking to by asking personal questions.
“Oh, Rocky Mountains, ice hockey, nature,” is the standard reply to my clarification. A lot of Canadians might seeth inwardly at being mistaken for an American, but I don't mind. To the untrained eye, there's very little to distinguish Canadians from Americans. This is one reason why so many Canadians, when traveling, put a prominent Canadian flag on their backpacks. Everybody loves Canadians. Americans, on the other hand…
It's been like this ever since I started traveling 20 years ago, before Donald Trump, before the invasion of Iraq, and before 9/11. Canadians put little maple leaves on their luggage to differentiate themselves from their American cousins.
We have free health care! There aren't any guns here! Same-sex marriage has been legal in Canada since 2005!
Everybody, it seems, thinks Canada is so nifty. We're polite. We apparently say “sorry” a lot. Canada is supposedly perceived to be the most tolerant country towards ethnic groups. We're not like those other guys south of the border. Canadians are nice.
I hate it.
For one thing, I have many American friends I greatly admire. I wouldn’t mind being mistaken, for instance, for Johnny from Dallas. Marc from Austin. Adam from San Francisco. Or Michael from Honolulu.
As well, there are a couple of problems with being labeled as “nice.” Number one: to be called “nice” is to essentially be called a square, much like the sweet, gentle but tragically ineffectual Ned Flanders character from “The Simpsons” (who has his own Canadian doppleganger).
If Canada could in fact be a nation of Ned Flanderses, it would be an improvement, but the real problem is that nice doesn't have any personality. There are no hard edges, and nothing pushes back. To be inoffensive is to be unremarkable and uninteresting, unworthy of attention. This can be a good thing if your desire is to blend into the background, and remain aloof from what's going on around you.
I'd argue that the desire to remain unengaged and alone is in fact a primary characteristic of being Canadian. We tend to mind our own business. What outsiders regard as being “nice” might actually be cold politeness. Canadians don't engage much in over-the-fence conversations with neighbours. We lack the warm, open friendliness I've come to associate with my American friends.
Luckily for us (and for the rest of the world), Justin Trudeau showed up to make being Canadian more than just nice: our prime minister has made our country positively sexy.
This meme. ?? @JustinTrudeau pic.twitter.com/032pEqOhQm
— Hedieh Attai (@lovehedieh) May 7, 2017
Tall, handsome, athletic and a male feminist, JT has transformed Canada from a country known for little more than ice hockey and milk that's sold in plastic bags, to a bastion of tolerance, and a refuge from the problems of the world.
Indeed, the day after getting elected in October 2015, Trudeau shifted the tone of discourse in Canada by 180 degrees. After an election campaign that saw his Conservative opponent propose banning the niqab, Trudeau immediately posed for selfies with Muslim Canadians in the Montreal Metro.
Next, the Trudeau government pledged to bring in 25,000 refugees to Canada in just a few months, after the previous government had waffled on helping alleviate the refugee crisis at all. The Trudeau government's refugee plan has been more or less a success so far.
So, in 2017, thanks to a lot of international adulation and newfound sex appeal, Canadians have begun to feel we are more than nice. We're hip, cool and tolerant. But are we really?
Because the myth of the “nice Canadian” also prevents Canadians from truly addressing some of our fundamental problems that are not going away anytime soon. Nearly 20% of children in Canada live in poverty, and nearly half of First Nations children. There is a housing crisis in Canada, accompanied by a homelessness crisis. On a per capita basis, Canadians lead the world in greenhouse gas emissions.
Every country has its problems, of course, and there are plenty of great things about Canada. (I personally like British Columbia's amazing assortment of craft breweries and the Montreal “DIY music scene“, for starters).
But enough with the brand of “nice.” It's a cop out for Canada, and prevents us from really achieving true greatness as a country.

author: Nevin Thompson


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‘Bodies Die, Countries Don’t’: Are You Listening? Podcast · Global Voices
L. Finch

The podcast Are You Listening? takes a look at some of the stories that have recently come out of the Global Voices newsroom. In this episode, we’ll hear about the tragic ways in which Venezuela is changing; the injustice that residents of Indian-administered Kashmir face; the fierce pride Nigerians have for their jollof rice recipe; the apparent criminalization of certain Facebook friendships in Thailand; and the institutionalized racism that exists within Brazil's justice system.
Many thanks to Kat Batuigas for editing this episode together and Laura Vidal, Mariana Parra, and Raphael Tsavkko Garcia for helping us with narration. Also, a shout-out to Global Voices contributors Luis Carlos Diaz, Nwachukwu Egbunike, Mong Palatino, Mariana Parra, and Raphael Tsavkko Garcia and our partner VideoVolunteers for the stories we featured in this podcast.
In this episode, we featured Creative Commons licensed music from the Free Music Archive, including Let's Start at the Beginning by Lee Rosevere (CC BY 4.0); The Sun Is Scheduled to Come Out Tomorrow by Chris Zabriskie (CC BY 4.0); Oldie Song by David Szesztay (CC BY-NC 3.0); Aurora Borealis by Lee Rosevere (CC BY-NC 3.0); Backed Vibes Clean by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 3.0); Skeptic by Podington Bear (CC BY-NC 3.0); and Resiste! by el zombi flash (CC BY 4.0).
The image featured in the SoundCloud thumbnail is a cartoon by Eduardo Sanabria (Edo Ilustrado). Used with permission.
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author: L. Finch