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March 04 2012
Russia: Ballot Stuffing or Machine Testing?
Glenn Kates (@gkates) shares a link to an election webcam video from a polling station in the North Ossetian village of Chikola, which “appears to show ballot stuffing.” “They could just be testing the machine though,” @gkates adds. Of the 91 comments on the video's YouTube page, the most popular right now is the one posted four hours ago by user rus1488rus [ru] and “liked” by 45 viewers: “To test [the machine], it's enough to feed it just one ballot )))”
March 03 2012
Serbia: First Conviction for Online Hate Speech
The High Court in Belgrade has recently brought its first conviction for online hate speech, sentencing Simo Vladičić to three months in prison and two years of probation for threatening members of the LGBT community via the Facebook group 500.000 Srba protiv gej parade/500,000 Serbs against gay parade in September 2011, when the gay pride parade in Belgrade was canceled due to security reasons. In a similar case, the European Court of Human Rights has recently ruled that hate speech against members of the LGBT community cannot be justified by the right to freedom of speech.
Russia: A Last-Minute Overview of Pre-Election Blogging
This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.
On Dec. 31, 1999, as Russians were celebrating New Year's Eve, a holiday that transcends religion and politics, President Boris Yeltsin went on the air and announced that Vladimir Putin would be instated as acting President. Before signing off, he added: “I want to beg forgiveness for your dreams that never came true. And also I would like to beg forgiveness not to have justified your hopes.”
In the aftermath of the devastating apartment bombings that occurred in September 1999 and the launching of the Second Chechen War, Mr. Putin's sole platform for the 2000 Russian presidential election was counter-terrorism in the North Caucasus. Beyond that, Mr. Putin refused to campaign or to join a political party. Nevertheless, he finished first among the 11 candidates with 53% of the vote - and the “Putin Era” began.
Twelve years later, Mr Putin's candidacy seems much more turbulent, as protesters took to the the streets alleging improprieties in the Dec. 2011 parliamentary elections. Still, polling data suggests that he is heading into Sunday's election with the support of the majority of the electorate.
Protesters hold a poster against the Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin during a rally for fair elections in St. Petersburg, Russia. Photo by MIKE KIREEV, copyright © Demotix (25/02/12).
For World Affairs Journal Blog, Vladimir Kara-Murza contextualized the March 4 election in a post entitled, “In Sunday's Vote, It's Putin Vs. Russia”:
On Monday, Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki was at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, attending a performance of Rodion Shchedrin’s opera Dead Souls. As the performance was getting underway, spectators noticed Penderecki in the box and started booing. The legendary musician was bewildered, not understanding the reason for such hostility. Only later was it explained to him that the audience mistook him for Vladimir Churov, the chairman of Russia’s Central Electoral Commission — to whom he indeed bears an uncanny resemblance.
As Sunday’s presidential election draws near, the public frustration with Vladimir Putin is becoming increasingly apparent. Over the weekend, thousands of Muscovites formed a human chain alongside the 10-mile Garden Ring Road — inspired by the pro-independence “Baltic Way” of 1989 — to protest Putin’s return to power and demand free and fair elections. In St. Petersburg, thousands of people from across the political spectrum marched through the city center calling for “a peaceful revolution.” Attitudes to the regime are also being expressed in less political ways: a mock Channel One “news report” from the future showing Putin’s arrest and trial in Moscow became an instant online hit, with five million views in one week. […]
Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog provided the background for the candidates running against Mr. Putin:
[…] Indeed, the Russian presidential election has been anything but ordinary. Sure, the official cast of characters remains virtually identical to past contests, save a few additions. Communist Party stalwart, Gennady Ziuganov still plays the role of “loyal opposition in-chief,” the aging face of a Communist Party that has the organizational resources to actually present a political alternative to Putin, but lacks the so-called “Leninist will” to adapt to present political conditions. Part of that adaption, however, would require dumping Ziuganov and forsake its aging electorate, something the KPRF mandarins and rank and file are still unwilling to do. Opposite Ziuganov is Vladimir Zhirinovsky, another perennial “loyal oppositionist.” Zhirik plays the harlequin in this grand performance, adding outrageous, comic relief to a show already thin on drama. In a way, Zhirinovsky reflects the whole process itself, a clown for a clownish spectacle. Then there is Mikhail Prokhorov, the new addition to the cast. Prokhorov serves as a kind of Khodorkovsky-lite (since the real Khodorkovsky is less pliable and, well, in jail for the foreseeable future). An oligarch who “made” the bulk of his wealth in the “loans for shares” scheme that saved Boris Yeltsin from defeat in the 1996 Presidential election, Prokhorov, unlike Khodorkovsky, not only understood the rules of the game, but also played them correctly. But the biggest question that has dogged Prokhorov is not his past, but whether he’s a Kremlin project or not. I suspect that he’s a mixture. One thing is clear to me after reading Julia Ioffe’s profile of him in the New Yorker is that Prokhorov’s biggest obstacle is that he’s a sleazeball. Bringing up the rear is Just Russia’s candidate, Sergei Mironov. His candidacy only inspires one question: Who’s he? […]
Along with the results of the election itself, freedom of expression has been a resounding issue for the past few months.
Committee to Protect Journalists Blog provided details to the backlash the Russian media endured after its coverage of the protests surrounding the controversial Dec. 2011 parliamentary elections:
[…] On December 12, Russian tycoon Alisher Usmanov, owner of the Kommersant Publishing House - which produces independent business daily Kommersant and several other news outlets - announced that he was sacking Maksim Kovalsky, chief editor of the popular weekly magazine Kommersant-Vlast. Demyan Kudryavtsev, the publisher's executive director, announced he would resign. The news was a huge blow, as Kovalsky and Kudryavtsev are leading journalists and considered fathers of Kommersant and its publisher.
The magazine's coverage of the parliamentary election was surely the reason for Kommersant's beheading. A week after the vote, most of Kommersant-Vlast's coverage was of the alleged fraud that led to public outrage and protests unprecedented in Russia in the past decade. But Usmanov - believed to be in Putin's close circle - zeroed in on a formal reason to punish the magazine. In its December 12 issue, Kommersant-Vlast published a picture of a ballot cast in London for the opposition Yabloko party; the ballot carried a hand-written insult to Putin across it. Usmanov publicly scolded the magazine for “unacceptable use of coarse language,” and said it was unethical and “on the borderline of hooliganism.” The magazine removed the picture from its website, but it was circulated on social networks, including Kommersant reporter Oleg Kashin's Twitter account.
The removal of Kovalsky and Kudryavtsev angered their colleagues at Kommersant. Two days later, dozens of journalists from Usmanov's news outlets - including independent news website Gazeta - signed and published online an open letter headlined, “We are forced into cowardice.” Veronika Kucyllo, a long-serving deputy editor at Kommersant-Vlast, announced her resignation in protest of Usmanov's decision.
Another important theme this election season has been the role of citizen media as a catalyst of political activism in Russia. Even though they are harder to censor than mainstream news sources, they are not totally immune to censorship, however, as Global Voices discussed in a post entitled, “Why are Russians Protesting Now?”
In a post entitled, “The Man Vladimir Putin Fears Most,” Wall Street Journal Blog predicts that blogger and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny will have an impact on the presidential election:
[…] Anticorruption blogger and activist Alexei Navalny will be in the middle of it — as he has been over the past three months of Russia's unexpected political awakening. By the tens of thousands, Russians shed their fear and apathy to protest December's fraud-ridden parliamentary elections and Mr. Putin's hold on power. From a crowded stage of opposition figures, Mr. Navalny has emerged as the charismatic and fresh face of the movement.
The next phase will test him and the opposition. The series of large demonstrations after December exposed the shallowness of support for Mr. Putin in the large cities and public frustration with the political stagnation and lack of accountability in Russia. Yet the rallies forced no notable government concessions. Though weakened, Mr. Putin gets a new term and possibly energy to reverse his slide or to crack down. […]
Tolik Belenko's Russian-language LiveJounal blog included a link to a “Nashi” announcement [ru] that the pro-Putin youth group has made plans to quash civil unrest in the aftermath of the elections:
On March 5, a few thousand activists from the groups “Nashi” and “Steel” will take to the streets of Moscow in order to prevent any illegal activity aimed at destabilizing society in the aftermath of the Russian presidential election.
LJ user tolik_belenko also shared the link to Nashi's announcement on his ya.ru page [ru]. Readers' comments were somewhat ominous.
Johnny TraHvoltin wrote [ru]:
This has already happened, though not with us, but in China, when [Mao Zedong] occasionally called out the [Red Guards Hóng Wèibīng] troops to the streets in order to maintain order. How did it end? Read history.
Svetlana wrote [ru]:
It's not yet tomorrow. Why guess? We shall see.
This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.
Pakistan: Shia Genocide - Spreading From Karachi to Kohistan
On February 28th 2012, armed men, disguised in Pak-army uniforms in Kohistan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, blocked a convoy of two buses and a van that was on its way back to Gilgit Baltistan from a religious pilgrimage of the holy sites in Iran. Reportedly, the passengers on gun point were forced to show their ID’s. The selected men and women were then dismounted off the vehicles, lined up and shot at point blank range. Eighteen of them (including two women) died on spot while several others were injured. Those killed had one thing common; their faith. They all belonged to the Shiite sect of the religion Islam.
Timeline:
The faith based killings of the Shiites in Pakistan is not the first of its nature. Back in the 90s, doctors and engineers of the mentioned faith were systematically targeted. Eighty Seven Shiite doctors are reported to be killed in these target killings until now. With time the centre of these faiths based killings have moved from South Punjab to Parachinar (KPK) and Balochistan where Shiite Hazara tribe is notably at the receiving end.
At least twelve Shi'ite Hazara community members were gunned down in Pakistan's southern city of Quetta. Image by RFE/RL. Copyright Demotix (4th October 2011)
Here is the horrific timeline of the past one year that portrays a very bloody picture:
April 6th 2011 - 5 killed in Hazar Gunji, Balochistan
May 6th 2011 - Several people were killed in Hazara graveyard in a firing incident (Western Bypass Quetta)
May 18th 2011 - 6 people killed in an attack on a vehicle again in Hazar Gunji
July 29th 2011 - Several Pilgrims killed when gunmen attacked a bus in Sohrab Goth, Quetta
August 30th 2011- 11 killed in a powerful blast outside Quetta mosque after Eid ul Fitr prayers
September 20th 2011 – In Mastung, 30 pilgrims were killed in an attack (similar to the one in Kohistan) on a bus going to Iran
October 4th 2011 – Baluchistan, 13 people were killed in a bus attack near western bypass
December 31st 2011 - Karachi, popular Shia Activist Askari Raza was murdered along with his nephew
January 17th 2012- Khanpur South Punjab, bomb attack on a religious procession (Chehlum) killing 18 mourners
Jan 25th 2012 to 30th - Karachi, Eight incidents of sectarian violence and militants attacks took place in Pakistan’s economic hub that claimed 11 lives in systematic target killings.
February 18th 2012 - Parachinar, 41 people killed in a suicide attack after Friday prayers
February 19th 2012 - Muzaffar Garh, Popular Shia Scholar and School Principal Hafiz Saqlain Naqvi was attacked in a firing incident, who later died from his wounds.
A massive funeral procession for slain Shi'ite leader, Askari Raza. Image by Syed Yasir Kazmi. Copyright Demotix (1st January 2012)
Blogger Suleman Akhtar in his post found these killings no different from historic tragedy of Holocaust:
“Last time it happened they called it the Holocaust. The Nazis did not annihilate the Jews for what they had done or for what they had not done for that matter. They exterminated millions of Jewish men, women and children for what they were – the Jews. ”
Changing Political Course:
For the past 10 years Pakistan is the centre of religious militancy and extremism. Banned sectarian outfits like Sipah e Sahaba and Lashkar e Jhangvi that were allowed proliferate turned against its masters and that resulted in the spree of suicide attacks all over Pakistan. Religious and Right wing parties called these suicide attacks a reaction of drone attacks. But post Osama Bin Laden scenario has altered the course of this new wave of terrorism. The example of such a change can be observed in the new developing alliance of 41 religious parties under the new platform of Defenders of Pakistan Council (DPC). Lead by former ISI chief and Taliban supporter Hameed Gul, Gen. Zia’s prodigy and former minister Ijaz Ul Haq, Pakistani media’s favorite politician Sheikh Rasheed, Religious leader Sami ul Haq who is known for his close association with Afghan Taliban and banned sectarian outfits like Sipah e Sahaba, Laskhar e Jhangvi and Jamat u Dawa.
It’s quite astonishing how the mentioned parties and people in DPC have changed their view point for Pak army or country’s sovereignty overnight. They are holding rallies all over Pakistan apparently in support of the army. The money they are spending on their campaign is in millions. What perks privileges and liberty are they receiving in return remain a frightening thought.
Protest rally of Shi'ite Muslims in Karachi, against Shia target killing in Pakistan. Image by Majid Hussein. Copyright Demotix.
Failure of the Law Enforcers and Judiciary:
The continuous occurrence of faith based killings speaks volumes of the performance of the law enforcing agencies and the Government. Those terrorists who ever get caught are easily acquitted thanks to loopholes of our Judicial System. Murtaza Haider explains this fact in his post:
“During 1990 and 2009, the anti-terrorism courts (ATC) in Punjab alone failed to convict the accused in 74 per cent of the 311 cases in which a final verdict was delivered. Most of the accused were acquitted not because they were able to demonstrate and/or substantiate their innocence, but because the judicial system in Pakistan is not capable of handling terrorism cases where prosecution’s case rests on circumstantial and forensic evidence, and not on the eyewitness account…. In 36 per cent of the cases, the courts acquitted the accused because they were not personally named in the FIR. This is an absurd requirement in terrorism cases.”
No constructive measure by the parliament was taken to control the growing faith based terrorism. Are they scared of the fallout from the religious parties or are they busy elsewhere is quite obvious to their voters. Similarly, the Chief Justice of Pakistan who is very proactive to take Suo Moto notices (on petty issues like Slap Gate and actress caught on airport with a liquor bottle incident) has completely ignored the killings of Shiites and other minorities. No measure whatsoever is taken by the so called vibrant Judiciary to reform the processes in the terrorist courts. One reason could be that minority killings in media are not as popular as Memo gate.
Suffocating Silence of Mainstream Media and Civil society:
Dr. Muhammad Taqi writes about the attitude of media towards the killing of Shiites and other minorities:
“Within minutes of many obscure happenings the traditional and contemporary media are alight with the particulars of those events — some more trivial than a pinprick on the skin of history. But when it comes to the slaughter of the minorities in Pakistan there is a certain lag time in publishing even sketchy details… Hardly an analysis or a talk show ever focuses on such mass atrocities. It is not clear why every such massacre becomes a Leontius moment for the media. Do they find the freshly executed corpses disgusting to look at or is it something else?”
In the last few years Pakistani Social Media has come up as an alternate medium to change public opinions and pressurize corporations to take measures in public interest. Latest example is the Maya Khan campaign. But how many campaigns were run to highlight an issue as serious as this? None.
Suleman Akhtar explains:
“As the state has miserably failed to protect its citizens, the intelligentsia and journalists – with few exceptions – share the proportionate blame for misrepresenting the spate of violence against Shias, that has come to be a systematic phenomenon. Deafening silence and misrepresentation of these inhumane killings have added to the miseries of the Shia community. …The identity of victims is usually missed out on purpose making it more difficult for common viewers / readers to comprehend the situation which is getting wretched with each passing day.“
Pakistani Shiite Muslims shout slogans during a protest against the Shiite Muslims target killing. Image by Syed Yasir Kazmi. Copyright Demotix (23 September 2011)
The Seed of Resentment
A similar bitterness on the mysterious disappearance and killings has been raised on various forums by the people of Baluchistan. Lack of empathy and constructive measures has turned that wound into a cancer. Are we happily fostering these tumors and ignoring the inevitable repercussions? Time will tell. Till then I leave you with these conclusive words:
“ It is up to the Pakistani minorities — the Shia, Ahmediyya, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs — whether they want to continue to ask the enablers of genocide to intercede on their behalf or raise the issue on every international forum possible. The Baloch have a taken a lead in this for they know that those committing genocide and their handlers are repeat offenders and would not stop on their own. – Dr Muhammad Taqi”
And,
“The problem at hand is not that who are the killers wreaking havoc across the country, but at first the question that our collective consciousness as a nation still ought to ask and reflect upon is that who are the people getting killed. Once this question, which has been buried under the debris of lies and misconceptions, is addressed and well conceived, the truth immersed in the mist will start to emerge. Once we comprehend why a community persecuted and mass murdered during WWII is remembered as the Jews and not as Germans, Polish or Netherlanders despite being the residents of all these countries, we will start conceptualizing the reality. (Suleman Akhtar) “
India: TV Channels Protest Against Lawyers In Kannada
Sans Serif reports that several local TV channels in Kannada blacked out their screens for two minutes on air to protest the violence unleashed on journalists by lawyers at the Bangalore courts last Friday.
Angola: Documentary “Death Metal Angola”
New York-based producers of a documentary called “Death Metal Angola”, about the emerging metal scene in Angola and a rock festival in the city of Huambo, are raising money for post-production costs on crowdfunding platform IndieGogo. The film's tagline: “The hardest hardcore is Angolan hardcore.”
Japanese Police Raided North Korean-linked Science Association
Police in Tokyo raided the office of a North Korean-linked science association over illegal PC exports allegations. North Korea Tech blog explains the association's past records and suspicions surrounding them.
Russia: Pre-Election Summaries
At OpenDemocracy.net, LJ user drugoi (Rustem Adagamov) “outlines how his trust in the outgoing president vanished and sums up the mood in Russia’s capital just days ahead of the country’s presidential election.” Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog examines the “known knowns and unknown unknowns” of the upcoming vote and its aftermath.
March 02 2012
South Africa: Kommandokorp: Extremist Hate Group or Afrikaner Nationalism?
The South African Mail & Guardian ran a story recently about an extremist right wing survival camp breeding virulent racism:
An extremist right-wing survival camp, about 230km east of Jo'burg, is breeding virulent racism, training teenage boys in its ideology.
The article further stated:
On its website, the Kommandokorps describes itself as an elite organisation “protecting its own people” in the event of an attack, it writes, necessary “because the police and the military cannot provide help quickly enough”.
Last year, it signed a saamstaanverdrag (a unity pact) with the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) and the Suidlanders — a small whites-only group that is awaiting the racial apocalypse — to coordinate their security strategy together.
Boys aged between 13 and 19 take part in Kommandokorp survival camp. Photo source: Kommandokorp Facebook page.
The paper has also produced a short documentary about the Kommandokorps called Afrikaner Blood.
After watching the video, Ziyanda Stuurman wrote:
“when I watched the video about the Kommandokorps program (somewhere in countryside South Africa), I felt a mixture of anger and sadness.” And “What moved me most about the video is the sheer existence and cunning of people like Jooste who prey on people's paranoia and their fears and worst of all, see that as a vehicle to advocate and promote hate.
She continued:
“Of course as a Black person, I was unbelievably offended by the horrific statements and wild generalizations made about Black people in the video, but more than that, as a human being, I was really touched by the thought of the massive impression these statements were making on those young men.”
Kommandokorps have since responded:
“No utterances of hate speech are ever made. Cadets are taught to love their own language, culture, traditions, religions and race. That is in the Constitution,” its executive director Franz Jooste said.
Ejay's has a round up of comments and articles about Kommandokorps and their members:
On the 2nd of September 2011, “Wolfy” of the Commando Corps, announced on their official Facebook Page, that as of the 30th of September 2011, all members having black Facebook Friends will be “removed”
Frans Cronje, the deputy CEO of the South African Institute of Race Relations shows concern:
“When you convince a child that blacks are the enemy, the danger is that he will act upon it. He gets a gun, climbs on to a bus full of black schoolchildren, and shoots 20 of them dead. That’s a realistic danger. It’s brainwashing, and it’s easy to do”
Polticsweb published a statement issued by Mmusi Maimane of the Democratic Alliance:
In the video Afrikaner Blood, for example, he can be heard articulating profoundly hateful speech. For example:
- “Let there be no doubt. Apart from the Aborigines in Australia, the blacks of Africa are the most underdeveloped and barbaric members of the human race on Earth.”
- “It takes me a one-hour lecture and then they know that they are no longer part of the rainbow nation.”
- “What is the biggest difference between you and a black man? A cortex. Remember that word. A cortex, a forebrain. He cannot organise … because his brain is 120g lighter than yours.”
- “Who is my enemy in South Africa, against whom I must protect my house like a fortress, always watching out for hijackings, who kills, robs and rapes? Who are these creatures? It is the black people.”
- “Yes, this camp develops racism. But not bad racism.”
All South Africans, and especially those who have experienced the hurt of racism, should find the continued existence of this camp an affront to our democracy and our Constitution. I am personally incensed with the prospect that this camp is allowed to continue operating for one day longer. This hate camp must be stopped now.
Saluting the old South African flag. Photo source: Kommandokorp Facebook page.
WeekendAM Live requested feedback from users:
We're asking you today … What is your take on the Kommandokorps and is there a place in our democratic society for youth camps that perpetuate hate crimes against other races?
Clarence Carter Chirenje said:
Race is a very complex issue in south Africa…we need to intergrate,interact and tolerate each other if we are to build a beta south Africa for all
Karabo Mashile commented :
“There's no place for things like these, I read the whole story and I can tell you there's hate speech and inciting of violence, lets see if DA, afriforum and ff+ will take this up”
Nkosingiphile Cofu wrote:
South Africa remains deeply racialy divided because there has not been a concerted effort to deracialise our society's. Staffing in core institutions like schools reflect this reality of a divided nation. There needs to be a social engeering programes aimed specificly to the youth and the society at large to try and inculcate the ideas of non racialism.
Abdullah believes that no one is born a racist:
No one is born a racist, it get indoctranated by parents, elders etc. I would like to see force integration on all class levels. The youth will only believe the indoctrination if they do not mix with other races. “We have made you different so that you can recognise each other”. . .Quraan.
However, Kommandokorp have posted statements on their Facebook page claiming they are not racist.
Below are some of comments about Kommandokorp appearing on Twitter:
@stoneware: It struck me how similar the sentiments expressed by Julius Malema and the Kommandokorps, just in reverse. Why are either views tolerated?
@chumisa_n: Just read the Kommandokorps articles. How atrocious. Really, really saddening to see so much hate being passed on.
@RiaadMoosa: People always wonder what causes racism. It seems like it's got something to do with wearing khaki…
@Wespresso: Two highlights in one day: Expel #Malema eyewitnessnews.co.za/Story.aspx?Id=… and shut down #Kommandokorps citizen.co.za/citizen/conten…Panzi polarization!
The citizen reports that a motion has been passed in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature to close the group:
A motion to shut down the controversial “hate camp” of the Kommandokorps got overwhelming support in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature yesterday.
Sponsored by the Democratic Alliance (DA), the motion called for the “immediate” closure of the camp, including a full investigation into the activities at the facility by the Mpumalanga police.
Parts of the motion also called on the legislature to condemn racism of all kinds, both in this house and elsewhere in our province as well as to condemn farm attacks, farm murders and crime of all kinds.
Cuba: Blogger Perspectives on the Embargo's 50th Anniversary (Part 2)
This is the second part of a two part series on Cuban perspectives on the 50th anniversary of the embargo. Please read the first part here.
The United States embargo (or blockade) against Cuba awakens passionate reactions, debates and reflections that have not subsided with time: the embargo is now 50 years old. Beyond opinions of politicians, diplomats, and strategists, Cubans -inside and outside of the Island- have lived and felt the embargo on the ground. With this in mind, Global Voices Caribbean Editor Janine Mendes-Franco and I interviewed one blogger from the diaspora and one residing in Cuba to offer various perspectives on the embargo, a very complex and multi-layered issue. Janine interviewed Alberto de la Cruz, managing editor of babalu blog, and I interviewed Elaine Díaz, editor of the blog Polémica Digital, journalist, journalism professor at the University of Havana [es] and Global Voices author [es].
Global Voices (GV): The U.S. embargo on Cuba - probably the longest-running economic ban in history - recently turned 50. Supporters see it as a necessary measure against a communist government; critics say that the policy is a failure that is really not hurting the regime, but instead, the average Cuban. Where do you stand?
Elaine Díaz (ED): Definir una posición puede ser difícil; pero, en este caso, siempre ha sido sencillo ubicarse en un espacio. El bloqueo, que algunos llaman embargo, me parece, en primer lugar, una ofensa a Cuba como nación. Ningún país tiene derecho a imponer sanciones financieras o políticas a otro por estar en desacuerdo con sus sistema político. Cada pueblo tiene derecho a escoger su filiación ideológica, y Cuba no es la excepción. El temor al fantasma del “comunismo” le ha brindado un marco legal a Estados Unidos para imponer este conjunto de leyes que, contestando tu segunda pregunta; no afectan en nada al gobierno, sino al ciudadano común, que se ve privado del acceso a artículos de primera necesidad porque se encarecen las inversiones y nuestro maltrecha producción nacional no da abasto a la demanda actual.
GV: What do you think it has accomplished, if anything?
Elaine Díaz (on the right) with a blogger friend.
ED: Creo que ha creado un sentimiento de atrincheramiento, de necesidad de defender la isla, de promover un sistema político autónomo que ha sido capaz de resistir esta hostilidad durante 50 años.
GV: Do you think the embargo, as it stands now, is doing anything to improve the political or human rights situation in Cuba?
En lo absoluto.
GV: Do you see a better alternative?
Respetar el derecho a la autodeterminación de los pueblos.
GV: How do you feel about the recent lifting of travel restrictions and making remittances easier?
Me parece una medida muy acertada. Existen muchísimas familias sufriendo por la enemistad de dos gobiernos. El bloqueo se ha traducido en la separación de familias, de padres e hijos de alguna manera indirectamente. Hasta hace algunos años tener un familiar residiendo en Estados Unidos constituía un estigma; las recientes medidas de flexibilización tanto desde Cuba como por parte de Estados Unidos, sientan las bases, aunque aún insuficiente, para un diálogo entre las dos naciones.
GV: How has the embargo affected the Internet in Cuba? In terms of infrastructure, access, distribution.
Acceso a alguna tecnología en específico. No creo que Cuba estuviese en ningún momento de acuerdo en conectarse a algunos de los cables de fibra óptica que provee Estados Unidos por cuestiones de seguridad nacional
China: Old propaganda for a new era
China Media Project explains how an old icon, Lei Feng, has been reused recently in the new round of propaganda campaign by the education department.
A Pictorial Guide to China's Politics: Left v. Right
Jimmy from Tea Leaf Nation explains the political position of the leftist and the rightist in China by translating discussion in micro-blogs and a pictorial guide from cnpolitics.org.
China: What Happened in Kashgar?
Xinjiang: Far West China has collected information from different sources and put together a fuller picture on what happened in Kashgar on February 28, 2012 when a riot and/or public demonstration ended in the deaths of over 20 people.
World: Global March Against the Syrian Dictator
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.
In March 2011, when Syrians started taking to the streets to demand freedom and justice, it was hard to imagine that a year later the regime would have killed thousands of people and tortured and arrested countless others. The city of Homs has been besieged since the beginning of February and suffers an unprecedented crackdown against its entire population, with a death toll of 100 every day. While international powers have not agreed on the need to pressure the Assad regime, global citizens solidarity with Syrians has been increasing and it will likely garner more support now that we are reaching the anniversary of the Syrian revolution.
An initiative called Global March for Syria aims to take people from all over the world to the streets on March 15, 16 and 17 in support of the Syrian people's struggle. The campaign is explained in a video called “Against a dictator” that has been widely shared online.
Marches for Syria are already planned in 16 cities, and the list keeps growing every day. Activists have created a Facebook event with information on the different marches, where they encourage citizens worldwide to stand with Syria against oppression:
One year since the Syrian revolution began. One year of violence against peaceful protesters and innocent civilians. One year of bloodshed. And one year of a brave stance against great evil, but the Syrian people have vowed to never stop until the fall of the regime, until they gain freedom and dignity. On March 15-17, 2012 let's stand with Syria against oppression and take a moment to remember the thousands of lives sacrificed since March 15, 2011.
The list of marches (please add yours to the Facebook event and as a comment to this post) are as follows:
Toronto - Canada; Washington DC - USA, Ottawa - Canada, Calgary - Canada, Montreal - Canada, Chicago - Illinois, US,
London - UK, Geneva - Switzerland, Seine - France, Paris - France, Paris - France, Bergen - Norway, Zürich - Switzerland,
Germany - Munich, San Francisco - USA and New Zealand.
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.
Palestine: Youth Activist Fadi Quran Released From Israeli Prison
Palestinian Youth Activist and Stanford Alumnus Fadi Quran. Photo by Jeff Mendelman. Used with permission.
Palestinian youth activist Fadi Quran was released on bail from an Israeli prison. The news was welcomed by dozens of Twitter users who expressed great joy.
On Twitter, Palestinian journalist Daoud Kuttab reacts to his arrest:
@daoudkuttab: Israelis threw @fadiquran an American Palestinian nonviolent activists deep in Israel with 2 other Palestinians. No US murmur !!!. #freefadi
Quran was arrested in Hebron on February 23rd - the day of his birthday - after allegedly pushing an Israeli police officer. At the time of the arrest, Fadi and his peers were protesting against the closure of Shuhada Street in Hebron, one of the city's main thoroughfares, on which Palestinians have been forbidden to walk or drive on for over a decade.
A video of Quran's arrest was uploaded on YouTube by the New York-based Institute for Middle East Understanding:
Social media networks quickly picked up on Quran's arrest. On Friday, a Facebook page Free Fadi Quran was created. Quran's friends and supporters also changed their profile pictures on different social media platforms to show solidarity. And on February 26th, Quran's Stanford colleagues created the website freefadi.org to raise awareness about his arrest. On Twitter, news about his arrest and later on his release was tweeted under the hash tag #FreeFadi.
Stanford student Lila Kalaf's online petition was created on change.org to call for his release.
Fadi Quran was one of the members of the nonviolent freedom rides organised in November 2010.
Palestinian Freedom Riders
The movement was modeled following the 1963 freedom rides in the United States against racial segregation. In this case, Palestinians protested against apartheid which prevents Palestinians from traveling freely to Jerusalem from West Bank.
Pakistan: An Oscar in Pakistan
Pakistani-Canadian journalist and documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, recently won an Oscar award for the best documentary (short) film. In 2010 she won an Emmy for her documentary, Pakistan: Children of the Taliban.
Nearly all Pakistani daily newspapers made it a front page news (The News, Dawn, Jang , Express News). The Prime minister of Pakistan announced the highest civil award for Ms. Chinoy.
This news generated a flood of tweets. Shermeen, a self-made entrepreneur and film director, was congratulated by all:
Jemima_Khan:Told you, told you, told you it's Pakistan's year… Congrats to @sharmeenochinoy for her Oscar win for brilliant doc, Saving Face
suhasinih: Wow Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy wins for best documentary!! Have seen those burns wards…her work needs to be seen by the world.
Natasha_H_Ejaz: #Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy: You bring tears to my eyes! So proud!
@samramuslim: I walk a prouder #Pakistani today coz of you @sharmeenochinoy and your #Oscar win!!
Kamran Javed: CONGRATS! Pakistan won 1st Oscar Award for Saving Faces as Best Documentary
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy hosting TEDxKarachi 2011. Image courtesy Dr. Awab Alvi.
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy was awarded the Oscar for an investigative documentary she made on the affects of acid violence on woman. Her documentary focuses on the bad state of woman right in Pakistan. Her film, named ‘Saving Faces‘, shows the how women live after being attacked by acid. The film also shows the work of British Pakistani Surgeon Muhammed Jawad who has tried to save the faces of women who have undergone this trauma. Acid attack is a ‘domestic crime' in Pakistan, and it's a travesty of justice when such culprits escape from the rule of law.
The documentary's website details the mission of the film. The basic aim is to end Acid violence in Pakistan and not just an “exposition of horrendous crime”. The ‘Acid Survivor Pakistan' - a activist group made after the documentary won the Oscar - plans to use social media, awareness, educating the youth, and radio/television campaigns to develop awareness about this horrible crime and completely root it out of the society.
Aaminah Qadir in her blog post, rightly calls Sharmeen a model to get inspiration from. The award will also help in developing the soft image of Pakistan. Sharmeen, herself, dedicated the Oscar to the women of Pakistan. Until Pakistan has women like Shermeen, hope for a change exists in the society.
Lastly, this documentary film will also help in enforcing the Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Laws promulgated in December 2011. The new amendment will lead the culprit to lifetime imprisonment, and a mandatory compensation of 1 million rupees ( $11,000; rate as of 29th February 2012).
Click on the image to watch video
Sharmeen's message in the Oscar Thank You Cam was:
“To everyone in Pakistan, who fights against terrorism every single day, this, is for you”
March 01 2012
Global Voices Podcast: Remembering Our School Days
Hello World!
Welcome to the Global Voices podcast. In this edition we’re going to school. From extreme teaching on the Niger River, to hearing truths from our younger friends, and thinking back to some of the fondest or most memorable educational moments of Global Voices contributors.
So, what were school days like for Global Voices people?
An explosive memory
Everyone survived to laugh at the story years later.
Teaching the internet from a boat
In this episode we also have an amazing tale of teaching, boats and the river.
Eddie Avila, director of Rising Voices talks with Boukary Konaté in Mali about the Segou Villages Project that brought Internet to villages along the Niger River by boat. Read more about the journey that brought internet to 800 villagers and see Boukary's photos shared on Flickr.
An unforgettable teacher
Memories of school days may be closely linked to friends or enemies but they may also be related to places and of course teachers. Some say that it is both the best and the worst teachers that stay in your mind years after you have left school. Veroniki Krikoni in Greece shares a beautiful tribute to a time, place and a teacher.
Playground politics
These times of learning in our childhood can help to make us who we are today. Cyrus Farivar is a journalist, producer and author. He describes an impulsive moment in the playground that landed him in the most trouble he's ever experienced in school… after biting his friend.
How Ethan learned to type so fast
School can be a time where you realise where you may want to go later in life. But getting there is not always easy.
A boy named Ethan Zuckerman, who grew up to be the co-founder of Global Voices, tells how his struggles with handwriting in the 4th grade almost caused him to lose hope… until he learned to type. Fast!
Standing up to bullies
Having a hard time at school with teachers can lead to smart solutions as Ethan’s story proves. Unfortunately, some of us grew up surrounded with few friends and more enemies. Bullying at school is an international problem and finding the right answer is not easy.
Studying abroad
Francois-Xavier Ada-Affana is a writer and translator and describes himself on his blog as “a nice Cameroonian finding his way in the world.”
He tells us how studying international relations in Cyprus, Greece has helped shape his views on history and education, opening his mind to new cultures and people.
The long walk to school
Thanks for listening
That’s all we have for this edition. School and educational stories are a reminder of the things that make us so similar no matter where we are in the world. The thing that brings us together are those years when we were all inexperienced. Now we can look back and wonder at what we have become.
Huge thanks to all of our contributors who took us back in their lives as well as those who shared a picture of education today. I think we all learned something!
Music Credits
In the podcast you can hear lots of lovely Creative Commons music. Thanks to Mark Cotton for his fantastic creations and thanks also to all of the wonderful voice over performances and clips that help to glue the podcast together. The Global Voices Podcast, the world is talking, we hope you’re listening!
Trinidad & Tobago: Cost of Carnival
“With the post Carnival cool down over, it’s back to real life and figuring out the bills”: Rishi Sankar posts a spreadsheet that proves how expensive participating in Trinidad Carnival can be.
Jamaica: Overhauling the Education System
“Don’t you think we ought to use the classroom to create a safe place for self-discovery and learning, coupled with enthusiasm and fun?” Ruthibelle thinks that the country needs “an education revolution.”
Russia: The Early Days of Government Transparency
This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.
“Make your work available online.”
It may seem a harmless demand, but in Russia it's more than that.
Such a request led to Alexey Navalny, a famed anti-establishment blogger and activist, scrutinizing public procurement contracts to expose shady practices by officials and private companies.
Navalny's project, RosPil [ru], helped earn him the reputation of Russia's most viable opposition leader — though he says he won't partake in or respect elections that aren't clean (a popular stance these days).
The RosPil project exposes corruption in Russia. Photo: Sven Hultberg Carlsson
That Navalny and other contributors to RosPil were able to examine public procurements — a job that needs doing not only in Russia — is thanks to a small triumph of open governance. At the end of 2005, enough pressure had been laid on the Kremlin for its leaders to make public procurement contracts available to the public.
The simple but insistent demand had come from the Freedom of Information Foundation (FIF) [ru], a non-profit founded in 2004. In a recent interview with Global Voices, Ivan Pavlov, its chairman, argues that open access to government information enbles citizens to act as a check on their rulers:
Everyone agrees that corruption is a huge problem in Russia. But the government's solution has been stronger government control. I believe that public control is much more effective. Government information must therefore be available so that the public can exercise control over it and oversee its actions.
Our demand is that the government and all public institutions make everything that isn't secret available to the public on a website.
The Foundation has made encouraging advances in their field. Early in Dmitry Medvedev's presidency, when his reform initiatives had a semblance of bite to them, work on Russia's Freedom of Information Act began to gain momentum.
With the help of persistent officials at Russia's Ministry of Economic Development — officials who, coincidentally or not, “no longer work there” — the Duma passed what Pavlov deems a “revolutionary” and “very progressive” piece of legislation:
The Freedom of Information Act was Medvedev's greatest achievement as president. I am an optimist and still believe the act will change the whole Russian system. But the government has to use this immense resource as a way to change. So far, that hasn't happened.
The act has been in effect since 2010. Its implementation is lacking. Little if any information is provided when requests are put to authorities, prompting the Foundation to litigate against secretive bodies that, believe it or not, are breaking the law.
Veracity tests have become a daily routine. When Medvedev proclaimed the need for an independent judiciary, Pavlov’s organisation put Russian courts to the test.
Many courts were unwilling to publish short bios and pictures of their judges online, but some reacted positively to the challenge. Pavlov says:
The courts may have published this information because they wanted to take the lead in our ratings. But I hope that these courts also understand how such a decision can contribute to society.
Of course, making information available online does not guarantee transparent governance. Pavlov admits that sensitive information is the hardest to expose.
Very few government agencies, federal or regional, want their financial records in public view. Information on cash flow, which could expose corruption, is kept secret — not only by the authorities, but by non-profit organisations as well.
And in the week of Russia’s presidential elections, there is an elephant in the room. Vladimir Putin, very likely about to enter his third term as president, favours a closed society. Russia’s ministries, reluctant collaborators even during Medvedev’s presidency, are much less prone to cooperation now.
The Freedom of Information Foundation operate from their offices in St. Petersburg. Photo: Sven Hultberg Carlsson
Even historical records, politically less toxic for today's leaders, are off limits. Historians researching the Soviet-era repressions cannot examine victims’ records without explicit approval by each related family.
Why, then, would information incriminating the Kremlin directly be brought to light?
Pavlov explains:
Putin cannot control the whole system. My hope is that the popular demands we have seen increase since the Duma elections last year will bring about change.
We see Russia developing in our research. In 2005 two thirds of Russia's federal executive agencies had no websites. Today all of them do.
But projects like RosPil cannot be alone. Civil activists and NGOs must use the Freedom of Information Act to expose situations where there is no justice.
This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011/12.
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