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March 03 2012
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) “
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.”
March 02 2012
Colombia: Film Festival Award Goes to Indigenous Film
The Cartagena International Film Festival [es] awarded one of its India Catalina awards in the category of New Creators in Short Films to the documentary short Mu Drua (My land) by Mileidy Orozco Domicó of the University of Antioquia [es]. The documentary, in the Embera tongue, follows the struggles of a young woman forced to migrate due to conflict from her land to the city of Medellín in Colombia.
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.
February 29 2012
Venezuela: Singer Onechot Becomes Victim of Violence He Decried
Photo of Onechot, taken by David Maris
Juan David Chacón is a reggae singer, his stage name being Onechot [es], which pronounced in Spanish sounds very much like a Latin “Juancho” and in English as “One shot”. As a reggae artist he has dedicated much of his work in spreading messages of peace. On the night of Monday, February 27, on returning to pick up some of his recorded material, Onechot was attacked by a group of criminals who shot him, wounding him in the head. Tuesday was meant to see the artist begin his national tour of his new album, however, due to the incident he has been in intensive care following surgery to remove the bullet from his brain.
Onechot recorded a video called Rotten Town, denouncing the violence in Venezuela. The lyrics of his music describes the situation:
“Let me introduce you to Caracas, embassy of hell, land of murderers and shottas. Hundred people die every week, we nuh live in war, country is full of freaks”
In 2011 alone 19 thousand people were killed in Venezuela, a country that has 28 million inhabitants and is not currently facing a war on drugs such as in Mexico or an armed conflict currently affecting Colombia. In 2008, Venezuela had one of the highest homicide rates in the world and the situation has not improved. This is the crisis that Onechot reported on in his video that at the time was criticised by the Venezuelan Government:
When Rotten Town was released in 2010, the former Venezuelan Minister for Communication and Information, Tania Diaz, launched a threat of legal action [es] against Onechot for, according to official sources, the music video's showing of “sensationalist images of violence”.
The criminal act against the singer led to a protest on social networks, producing Twitter Trending Topics such as #Onechot and #FuerzaOnechot ('We support Onechot'). Most of the messages showed the surprise and indignation felt towards the fact that a peace activist had now become a victim of what he had previously denounced in his music.
Jogreg Henriquez demonstrated this with his post “Onechot saw it coming” [es]:
Onechot entró a formar parte de las estadísticas de las víctimas de los actos criminales que tienen a Caracas como una de las más peligrosas del mundo. Decenas de asesinatos cada fin de semana así lo atestiguan. Decenas de familias de luto frente a una morgue colapsada por tanto dolor y tanto olor a muerte.
In the blog Panfleto Negro, the oldest blog in Venezuela, the author Luis1210 has warned that for months now the Government has tried to blame society for the violence currently seen in the country. He describes this in his post titled “Oneshot, it's your fault” [es]:
El gobierno desde hace tiempo nos quiere vender una gran falacia con respecto a la inseguridad. Quiere convertirnos en corresponsables de la seguridad ciudadana para de esa forma echarnos los muertos a nosotros. Si aceptamos esa responsabilidad de manera automática aceptamos también la culpa. Y he ahí el porqué del título, no he dejado de leer en twitter estupideces como que OneChot se lo buscó o lo atrajo cósmicamente por haber elegido ese nombre artístico o que andaba “ostentando riqueza” o cualquier estupidez. Cuando lo cierto es que OneChot es un tipo que se atreve a hacer reggae de protesta, algo que hoy en día parece olvidado.
Inti Acevedo is of the same opinion (@Inti) [es], criticising the self-censorship of other artists who denounce the social problems in Venezuela:
Cuando @Oneshot sacó el video que denuncia la violencia en Venezuela se ganó mi respeto. Un rebelde de verdad en un país de rockeros cobardes
Meanwhile, the poet @WillyMcKey wrote a post for the blog Prodavinci [es] about how the country should leave its violence in the past and move on:
Quienes deben asegurarnos la vida ven llover sangre ajena, pisan nuestros charcos y se esconden detrás de sí mismos, como si el país fuese un hombre hospitalizado, como si la ciudad solamente necesitara condiciones antisépticas. Como si el miedo fuera una estrategia.
Mientras inventan una guerra en el espejo, afuera disparan consecuencias de la ineficacia.
Mientras buscan a quien echarle la culpa, afuera toma forma la muerte cada noche.
¿Cuándo vamos a poder cerrar los ojos para que la lluvia nos permita una sonrisa nueva? Sólo cuando mudemos Rotten Town muy lejos, a ese lugar donde reposa lo podrido: el pasado.
While they invent a war in the mirror, outside are the shots that come from the consequences of inefficiency.
While they are looking for who to blame, outside someone is killed.
When are we going to close our eyes so that the rain will wash the sadness away and permit us to smile again? Only when we move Rotten Town to a faraway place, to the place where all rotten things lie: the past.
Jaqueline Goldberg [es] is a writer and friend of Onechot's parents. In her Facebook account she posted:
I don't know how I will be able to sleep tonight, knowing that Juan David Chacón Benítez, the son and brother of dear friends, is in therapy with a bullet in his memory. How can I leave tomorrow and pronounce the words “country” and “night” without anger. Right now I am scared, I have the desire to flee, I feel clumsy and dumb. Citizen disgust.
In 2010 the filmaker Sergio Monsalve praised the quality of the video of the singer, in spite of the official criticism, for which he came back to his original post on the subject [es] and added:
This is my reason for why “Rotten Town” is one of the best Venezuelan video clips of the third millennium and one of the greatest in Venezuela's history. I return to it here because of the recent incidents affecting Onechot. I published it in August 2010. Unfortunately today it takes on a new life. In Venezuela, time continues to pass yet the problems get worse, above all the unleashing of the underworld. Our real social cancer is the lack of safety. Is this a disease without a remedy? It is time to urgently seek a cure.
Meanwhile, as the country awaits the outcome of Onechot in intensive care, the protests continue to increase on social networking sites and physical artists such as Ricardo Crovato portray Caracas as being Rotten Town, until the situation improves.
Photo of Caracas as Rotten Town, image by Ricardo Crovato
Brazil: Dispute over the Falklands Opens Debate on Economic Perspectives
[All links lead to Portuguese language pages except when otherwise noted.]
The 30th anniversary of the start of the war that led Argentina and Britain into battle over the Falkland Islands and the recent public statements by Argentine president [en] Cristina Kirchner have sent us back in time to evaluate those events from a new perspective, and thus shine a light on the current implications for Brazil as the largest economy in Mercosur.
Along these lines, Gilberto Rodrigues, Professor of International Relations, draws attention to the new geopolitical design within which the dispute over the Falklands now finds itself:
Passadas três décadas, a Argentina segue reivindicando com barulho a soberania sobre as Ilhas Malvinas (“Las Malvinas son Argentinas”) e os britânicos continuam fleumáticos e impassíveis nas Ilhas Falkland. Porém, fatos novos entram em cena e estão alterando o equilíbrio de forças políticas e diplomáticas nesse embate.
Historic map of Johnston (1893), shared by Douglas Fernandes on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
This is indeed a new era, and a lot has changed since 1982: the Berlin Wall fell, taking with it the Iron Curtain that separated capitalists from Marxists, the world split up into economic blocs (the EU, Mercosur, NAFTA) and the British victory in the Falklands War cemented the United Kingdom's alliance with the USA, its greatest ally.
In terms of the two economic blocs to which the two countries belong, the European Union is facing its worst crisis since its creation and announced that the dispute over the Falkland Islands is a bilateral issue [en]. Domestically, the United Kingdom is struggling to contain public unrest over policies of cutting public spending. Politically, London is fighting to quell the outcries of the Scottish, who are prepared to go to a referendum to decide if Scotland will or will not continue to be one of the kingdoms that make up this “united kingdom”.
Mercosur is currently experiencing prosperous times due primarily to the growth of the Brazilian economy (which, as Global Voices reported [en] at the end of 2011, has already overtaken that of the United Kingdom), which has been reflected in trade with other members of the bloc. It was in this context that Argentina won the support of its neighbours and managed to get those countries then to close their ports to vessels flying the Falklands flag, amongst other forms of boycott.
"They were, are and will be Argentine". Photo by Brian Allen on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
In her speech at the last Mercosur summit meeting, the Argentine president referred to the global cause of the Falklands issue. Alexandre Rocha reproduced the news on his blog:
“As Malvinas não são uma causa argentina, mas uma causa global, pois nas Malvinas estão tomando nosso petróleo e nossos recursos de pesca”, afirmou a presidente argentina, Cristina Kirchner, após o anúncio tomado na cúpula do Mercosul, nessa terça-feira. “Quero agradecer a todos a imensa solidariedade para com as Malvinas, e saibam que quando estão firmando algo sobre as Malvinas a favor da Argentina também o estão fazendo em defesa própria”.
It seems that Cristina Kirshner has counted on her country's importance within the South American bloc, especially for Brazil, the country with which it has extremely strong trade links. Ironically, when you put in perspective the evolution of Argentine–Brazilian relations it is clear that the Falklands War was the driving force that encouraged the two countries to grow closer as well as the subsequent creation of Mercosur. Lucas Kerr de Oliveira, a political science PhD student, explains:
40th Mercosur Summit. Photo by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Com o embargo europeu aos produtos argentinos, o Brasil passou a comprar grandes quantidades de carne, trigo e outros produtos produzidos por aquele país. O processo de aproximação resultou em um acordo nuclear bilateral, para fins pacíficos; passo fundamental para acabar com as desconfianças mútuas no plano político-militar. Este tratado foi seguido de uma série de tratados bilaterais no período dos Presidentes Sarney e Alfonsín, que resultaram na criação do Mercosul.
Brazil's support of Argentina after the Falklands War didn't just pay dividends through commerce, but also transformed what was previously a rivalry into a strong alliance, which made significant reductions in defence spending possible. Once the Brazilians no longer feared an “Argentine invasion”, they were able to redirect those resources to the Amazon region.
Once part of Mercosur, this unity led also to the sale of military equipment to Argentina, particularly aeroplanes produced by the Brazilian firm Embraer, which began recently to include Argentine parts, as Michel Medeiros from O Informante (The Informant) blog notes:
A Embraer Segurança e Defesa assinou nesta quarta-feira contrato de parceria com a empresa argentina FAdeA, que será responsável pela produção de spoilers –superfícies móveis de controle de sustentação na asa– e portas do trem de pouso, entre outras peças do KC-390.
Brazil's alignment with Argentina has caused problems for David Cameron's government's strategy of increasing its presence in the emerging country. In that respect, the Ronaldo-Livreiro blog quotes an interview with Peter Lee, an expert on defence from King's College London, for whom the recent visit of British politician William Hague to Brazil “forms another part of this strategy”. As for Britain's position with regards to the islands, Peter Lee still believes that:
Falkland Islands Flag. Photo by Liam Quinn on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
[…] para que tenhamos uma mudança na posição britânica necessitaríamos uma ação econômica coordenada do Mercosul e da Unasul. Nisto o Brasil terá que fazer seu próprio cálculo de custo-benefício na relação com a Argentina, o Mercosul e o Reino Unido. Mas, ainda que houvesse uma política coordenada, não acho que teria êxito e, além disso, em nível comercial e econômico, todos perderiam. O que o Mercosul fez até agora foi a parte mais fácil porque na verdade o acordo de não permitir barcos de bandeira das Malvinas só afeta poucos barcos que também podem navegar com a bandeira inglesa, de modo que foi uma decisão mais simbólica que substantiva.
What is certain is that the current interest in the Falklands has some interesting features, such as national credibility – since wars have already been waged for the islands – proximity to Antarctica, and the existence of oil reserves. In this sense, the Argentines, British and Brazilians foresee a period of economic growth for the islands along with oil exploration, as Professor of Political Science Israel Aparecido Gonçalves indicates in his Real Política Brasileira (Real Brazilian Politics) blog:
[…] há uma perspectiva de forte impacto na economia local. Claro, o governo argentino está preocupado com a escassez do petróleo no mar do norte. A descoberta e exploração de petróleo na região, trará (novamente) relevância às esquecidas ilhas, que por um longo período da história só gerou gastos e produziu lã.
Argentina's integration in Mercosur and the United Kingdom's participation in the EU may have reduced the likelihood of new military conflict, but not economic conflict. Brazil's support of the Argentine cause seems advantageous, but not risk free. If, on the one hand, it wishes to see British competitors for oil exploration on the South American coast pushed aside, the country also seems to have found a privileged position amongst UK investors. It is now time for Brazilian diplomats to pay close attention to how the issue continues to unfold, especially as this new stage in the dispute is just beginning.
Armenia: Sumgait Pogrom Anniversary
The Armenian Observer posts the harrowing details of at least 26 ethnic Armenian victims of the Sumgait pogrom which took place on 27 February 1988 and which seriously escalated the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh. Six Azerbaijanis were also killed in the inter-ethnic violence which broke out after reports of violence against ethnic Azeris in Southern Armenia reached the industrial town in Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, a day earlier, Azerbaijanis marked the 20th anniversary of the massacre of their ethnic kin in Khojaly during the height of fighting in Nagorno Karabakh.
Azerbaijan: Khojaly Massacre Anniversary
As Azerbaijanis worldwide, as well as Turks in Istanbul, commemorated the 20th Anniversary of the Khojaly massacre, the most serious during the fighting with Armenia in Nagorno Karabakh during the early 1990s which left 613 civilians dead, Tamada Tales comments on the release of the full transcript of an interview with Serge Sargsyan, currently the Armenian president, in which he admits the tragedy albeit while also mentioning that a humanitarian corridor had been left for Azerbaijani civilians to leave before ethnic Armenian forces entered the town. A day later Armenians also marked the 24th anniversary of the 1988 anti-Armenian pogrom in the Azerbaijani industrial town of Sumgait.
February 25 2012
Sri Lanka: Female ex-combatants of LTTE Are At Risk
Shamila at Groundviews reports that female ex-LTTE members are at great risk as they have to report regularly to the military and their movements are closely monitored.
February 23 2012
Georgia: Online campaign targets Russian president's Facebook page
With Russian soldiers stationed in Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, a group of Forum.ge users proposed to mark the Defender of the Fatherland Day on February 23 by posting anti-occupation comments on Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's Facebook page.
Cyxymu, a Georgian blogger who was the target of attacks on Facebook, Google Blogger, LiveJournal and Twitter, forcing the latter offline for two hours on 7 August 2009, posted a photo on Facebook alerting many Georgians to the campaign.
More than 200 users of the social networking site then started to post comments and continue to do so.
“Дмитрий Анатольевич, я требую вывода российских оккупационных войск из Грузии!”
“Dmitry Anatolevich, I demand the withdrawal of Russian occupational forces from Georgia!”
An hour later comments started to disappear from the page, reported Cyxymu. Georgians, however, did not stop posting the comments and taking screenshots of Medvedev's Facebook page.
Facebook users later reported that the page was no longer accessible in Georgia, with some alleging it had been blocked. Later, when it was available, many comments left by Georgians users were found to have been deleted.
February 22 2012
Syria: Call to Free Human Rights Detainees
Syrian blogger Razan Ghazzawi appeals to supporters to exert pressure on the Syrian government to release her colleagues at the Office of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression in Damascus. Ghazzawi herself was among those detained when the centre was raided on February 16. She has since been released.
Sahel: Islamic Fundamentalist Organisations Tighten Their Grip
[All links to articles in French unless stated otherwise]
For a few months now, two religious Islamic fundamentalist organisations, Boko Haram and AQIM (Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb), have intensified their war against the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the surrounding nations.
On December 25, 2011, Boko Haram coordinated explosions against Christians [en], including one at a church near Abuja that killed at least 37 people. On December 12, an AQIM offshoot calling itself Jamat Tawhid wal Jihad fi Garbi Afriqqiya (Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa - MOJWA) released a video [en] of three abducted European aid workers in Algeria.
These religious groups are attempting to spread their activities into countries of the Sahel region. The regional blogosphere has quickly reacted to recent attacks showing concern and providing thorough analyses.
Boko Haram recruits arrested by police forces in Biafra. Photo posted to yfrog by @tianmine
Philippe Hugon's post, published on the Grotius website, provides one of the cause of the increasingly perilous tension threatening Nigeria's unity:
Dans la capitale de l’État des plateaux, à Jos, les conflits opposent ainsi les Fulani musulmans aux Berom chrétiens, deux populations qui disposent de droits différents. Quant aux mouvances islamiques du Nord, elles sont plurielles (soufisme des confréries traditionnelles, mouvements salafiste, maadhistes et chiites) avec 12 États (sur 36) qui ont instauré la charia.
According to the author, far from becoming weaker, the movement is growing and presents serious cause for concern:
La question la plus importante, en raison des bouleversements intervenus en Libye, est à présent la prolifération de la nébuleuse AQMI. Le mouvement anti occidental Boko Haram, apparu après le 11 septembre 2001, localisé dans l’État de Borno développe désormais le djihadisme ; il s’est scindé en plusieurs branches dont l’une est proche des Chebabs de Somalie et d’Aqmi. Or par sa radicalisation et ses actions violentes, il favorise un clivage religieux engendrant un engrenage des violences, des représailles et de la répression.
On January 26, 2012, the United Nations published a report by a team that travelled to many of the Sahel countries, in order to investigate the local impact of the civil war in Libya. According to this report, armed groups such as the Boko Haram sect in Nigeria and AQMI would have had access to a dangerous arms cache.
Antoine Barbizon, wrote a post on the subject, on the Geo Tribune blog saying the following:
Les gouvernements et responsables des États dans lesquels s’est rendue l’équipe d’évaluation de l’ONU ont communiqué les informations en leur possession selon lesquelles de grandes quantités d’armes en provenance de Libye seraient parvenues illégalement dans de nombreux pays du Sahel. Livré clandestinement par d’anciens combattants de Libye, des soldats et des mercenaires à la solde du Colonel Mouammar Kadhafi, cet arsenal comprendrait des lance-grenades, des mitrailleuses avec visée inti-aérienne, des fusils automatiques, des munitions, des grenades, des explosifs ainsi que de l’artillerie légère montée sur véhicules. Ces armes seraient cachées dans le désert et une partie d’entre elles vendues aux groupes terroristes. Le rapport de l’équipe de l’ONU évoque également l’inquiétante perspective d’un rapprochement entre Boko Haram et AQMI, les deux groupes ayant décidé d’étendre leurs actions au-delà de leurs périmètres actuels.
The people of neighbouring Sahel countries are expressing their fear about the situation and the risks of overflow. In Cameroon, many Internet surfers are reporting a dangerous evolution. Elizabeth Kendal writes in her blog [en]:
Garga Aoudou, a community activist with a Dutch development organization, told IPS that Garoua has been “literally inundated with fliers inciting Muslims towards a hatred of Christians”. Aoudou continues, “Religious fanatics exhort Muslims to increase the number of marriages between young Muslim men and Christian girls in order to convert them to Islam, to refuse to rent houses or sell land to Christians - or to get them to move by raising the rent”.
On the blog sanfinna.com, Jean Baptiste Naudet writes:
C’est l’un des pires cauchemars des services de renseignement. Et il est en train de se matérialiser. Au Nigeria, la secte islamiste Boko Haram (ce qui signifie « l’éducation occidentale est un péché » en haoussa) est en train non seulement de monter en puissance et de se radicaliser, mais surtout de devenir un centre puissant de l’arc du terrorisme qui va de la Mauritanie à la Somalie.
….Lors des attaques régulièrement lancées par la secte contre des commissariats, des églises ou des prisons dans le nord, les morts se comptent par centaines. Outre la montée de la violence, le développement de la nébuleuse terroriste d’Al-Qaida hors du Sahel inquiète car il correspond au retour des combattants subsahariens (pro-Kadhaf) de Libye, ainsi qu’à l’arrivée d’armes lourdes en provenance des arsenaux pillés de ce pays.
It's one of the worst nightmares of intelligence agencies and it is being carried out. In Nigeria, the Islamic sect Boko Haram (meaning “western education is a sin”, in Hausa language) is not only increasing in power and becoming more radical but is also becoming a powerful centre for terrorism, extending from Mauritania to Somalia.
..During the frequent attacks launched by the sect in the north, against police, churches and prisons, hundreds are left for dead. In addition to the escalation in violence, the development of the nebulous terrorism of Al Quaida outside of the Sahel is of great concern, as it corresponds to the return of Sub-Saharan Libyan fighters (pro-Gaddafi) as well as the arrival of heavy weapons from this country's arsenal.
The Mautitanian site noorinfo.com writes:
La Mauritanie, l'Algérie, le Niger et le Mali sont confrontés à une insécurité croissante liée aux activités d'Aqmi et d'autres groupes criminels, ainsi qu'à l'afflux d'armes, dont de l'armement lourd, issues du conflit libyen.
Muslims understand that they too are hostages and that violence towards Christians, is also of concern to them and that they must be involved in preventing it. In an interview on the camer.be site, Ernest Djonga, regional president of the Islamic Youth of the North group, explained the measures taken thus far by his movement and by the Muslim religious authorities, in order to confront the challenge posed by the presence of Bako Haram in the North of Cameroon.
Voyant le danger venir, nous avons sollicité l’intervention du Lamido [la plus haute autorité traditionnelle] de l’époque, le regretté Ibrahim Abbo, qui avait pris des dispositions fortes en réglementant la fonction de prédicateur et au niveau de la Jeunesse islamique du Cameroun, nous nous sommes attelés à superviser les différents thèmes à développer dans les 19 mosquées … [de] la ville de Garoua. Cette méthode s’est pérennisée sous le règne de sa majesté Alim Garga Hayatou. Des garde-fous ainsi posés nous ont permis de sélectionner les prédicateurs certifiés et agréés.
It is in this context that old ancestral conflicts that had simmered are now re-awakening, such as in the North of Mali where thousands of people were obliged to flee their village to take refuge in neighbouring countries.
The temoust.org site, Tuareg Survie, published a communique on the conflict, indicating that:
Au moins 30 000 personnes sont déplacées au Mali et vivent dans des conditions extrêmement précaires, à la suite des combats opposant l’armée malienne à des groupes armés dans le nord du pays depuis la mi-janvier. Le CICR porte assistance à des milliers d’entre elles, ainsi qu’à 15 000 autres déplacés au Niger voisin. Il a également pu visiter des détenus et soigner des blessés au Mali.
Syria: Citizen Journalist Rami Al Sayed Killed in Homs
Citizen journalist Rami Al Sayed, whose videos and live-streaming of the bombardment of Homs showed the world the daily carnage in Syria, was killed yesterday, reports Ahmed Al Omran, on the NPR news blog.
Syria: Shock and Disbelief Over Murder of Journalists
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.
Netizens covering the daily carnage in Syria on social media had to take a step back today to soak in news of more atrocities committed against humanity in the Baba Amr neighbourhood, in besieged city of Homs.
NPR media strategist Andy Carvin, who is in Tripoli, Libya, tweets:
@acarvin: I need to unplug for a bit before I say something I'll regret. I just can't take this right now. #homs #syria
He adds:
@acarvin: Killing reporters and citizen journalists won't stop us from bearing witness. You can't stop us. #syria #homs
And continues:
@acarvin: These reporters and citizen journos muster more bravery in a day than I ever will in a lifetime. I am forever in their debt. #syria #homs
While Iyad El Baghdadi admits:
@Iyad_elbaghdadi: I have to take a break and cry for a bit. See you later.
The reactions followed reports on the deaths of American journalist Marie Colvin, who works for Britain's the Sunday Times and French photographer Remi Ochlik. According to Reuters, “shells hit the house in which they were staying and a rocket hit them when they were escaping.”
Meanwhile, netizens on the ground report that a third reporter is also said to be injured, when the media centre the journalists and activists were in was attacked.
Tweets4peace accuses the Syrian regime of conducting the attack. The Twitter user notes:
@tweet4peace: We know it is regime is because these type of missile attacks have been continuous for 19 days now. Today was target on media centre #homs
The news created an out pour of sympathy on Twitter, already reeling over the world's silence at the massacres being committed against Syrians protesting against Bashar Al Assad and his regime and claiming the lives of thousands of citizens.
From Egypt, Maha Abdoelenein tweets:
@mahagaber: Utter Shock & Disbelief. Marie Colvin killed in Homs, Syria today. I worked w her extensively on all things Egypt
Diaa Hadid notes:
@diaahadid: Rest in peace Marie Colvin, Remi Ochlik, few will die as honorably, telling the world of what others sought to conceal
And Rania Zabaneh reminds us:
@RZabaneh: #Syria is becoming a deathtrap for journalists. This is OUTRAGEOUS: EIGHT journalists killed since 2012; FOUR in #Homs.
Meanwhile, CNN reporter Arwa Damon concludes:
@arwaCNN: RIP 2 our colleagues killed in #homs, the price we pay 2 shed light on atrocities, the price #syria pays everyday 4 freedom
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.
China: Tibetan Matches
A satirical cartoon on the self-immolation of Tibetans and the conflict situation in Tibet. By Gianfranco Uber at Cartoon Movement.
Georgia: Assassination attempt on Abkhazia leader
ЖЖ Сухуми სოხუმი cyxymu [RU] updates its readers on another assassination attempt made today on the defacto President of Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region, Alexander Ankvab. The blog reports one bodyguard was killed, with another two wounded, in the fifth attempt on Ankvab's life since 2005.
February 15 2012
Bahrain: Tweeting the Revolution's First Anniversary
This post is part of our special coverage Bahrain Protests 2011.
This Tuesday 14 February, 2012, Bahrainis practiced their daily habit of protesting but this time with larger numbers trying to reach the former epicentre of demonstrations in 2011 - Pearl (Lulu) Roundabout in the capital Manama.
February 14 marked the one year anniversary of their revolution, which has been severely repressed by the regime backed by the troops of the Gulf Cooperation Council's Peninsula Shield Force.
Since the revolutionary protests started, tens of people have been killed either by bullets, tear gas suffocation, torture, or by police cars running them over. Many opposition figures, medics, athletes, students, netizens, journalists and unknown protesters are still in jail or facing trial. Yet, oppression has not succeeded in holding the protests back.
The virtual flower that IFEX designed in a supporting campaign for Bahrain's revolution
Hacking for Bahrain
The day of the anniversary started off with the online group ‘Anonymous' taking down the websites of a United States tear gas manufacturing company, pro-government newspaper Al-Ayaam, and the Bahrain government.
Anonymous published a statement about what they called #OperationBahrain - part of their #HackVDay:
So you war profiteering all crazy, selling mad chemical weapons to militaries and cop shops around the world, thinking you will get away unscathed by the rising tides of insurrection? Think again, assholes. Combined Systems, lay down your arms: you just lost the game. In the past we have marched on your offices in Jamestown, Pennsylvania: now it is time to march on your websites. All your “less than lethal” arms were simply no match for our 9000 cocks and mad black hat technique. We came, we saw, we rooted and rm'd your website. Umad?
Marching and tear gas
Pictures of protesters attempting to reach Pearl Roundabout were published through Twitter. The roundabout, where major protests took place in 2011, was demolished by the regime to erase the memory of the revolution; the site was enclosed by wires before Tuesday to prevent any gatherings.
These were some of the early pictures of the protests:
Attempting to reach Pearl Roundabout. Photo posted by Twitter user @A7med_BH
@Moawen: Bahrain government attacked a school in Sitra with tear gases
@Moawen: Youth continue their peaceful march to Lulu
One of the notable pictures of the day was posted by Twitter user @Moawen from Sanabis:
Bahraini activist in exile, Maryam Al-Khawaja, kept carrying out updates online:
@MARYAMALKHAWAJA: Two young men, Mohammed AlHaiki and Mohammed Jaffar, who walked to pearl square carrying only a #bahrain flag were arrested.
News of tear gas and police presence came from different parts of the country:
@drFatimaHj: Shooting is continuous now #BaniJamra sound grenades and tear gas although there is no crowd to disperse!!
Mohammed Ashoor tweeted updates from different parts of Bahrian. He posted:
@mohdashoor: Sanabis village has been under heavy attack since early morning & many arrests, house raids & teargas showers reported!!
Twitter user Ashoor (@mohdashoor) posted this picture from Daih Village:
Image by Twitter user @mohdashoor
Other pictures were tweeted of tear gas filling several villages. This one is from Sanabis:
Image by Twitter user @Fatima_xc
This video (uploaded to YouTube by KhabbazoOo [ar]) shows a house burning because of security bombs, according to the description:
Stopping political naturalization has been one of the main demands by protestors in Bahrain. This tweet came in relevance:
@JShahryar: Bahraini just asked me on Twitter how to say “Don't Shoot!” in Urdu so the Pakistani/Indian cops won't shoot them
Countless arrests
As usual, the police did not hesitate in blocking or arresting protesters. One Twitter user posted:
@ba7rainiDXB: An blonde expat was just roughed up by the police next Gufool traffic light !! He was walking towards lulu.
Others wrote:
@BHRS2001: Nine women arrested this morning from Sanabis village, being kept at AlHoora Police Station
@BHRS2001: Isa Ibrahim has broken both his legs after being run over and is in AlQal'aa hospital
@iFattema: Teargas enters to the house. we can't do anything. anything..they still shooting in an exaggerated manner.
This is a picture of protesters laying down before getting arrested:
@Lulu_Geek: Hidden for safety
Detaining activists
Nabeel Rajab, a well-known human rights activist who moderates the Bahrain Human Rights Center and the Gulf Human Rights Center, has been calling on people to show up and use the revolution's first anniversary to let the regime know that the struggle is not stopping and that the people still demand democracy, freedom and justice, as he said in this video:
The role Rajab has played in leading the uprising in past months has irritated the regime; he was beaten up last month and as he was marching this Tuesday, he was detained for several hours alongside some American activists who came to monitor the situation.
Activist Nabeel Rajab marching towards Pearl Roundabout. Image by Twitter user @WLEXT
Reuters correspondent Andrew Hammond posted this picture of Nabeel Rajab saying the activist was sitting after what appeared to be an illegal stroll, with riot cop guarding:
Image by Twitter user @Hammonda1
‘Witness Bahrain' is a team of Americans who went to document violations during the revolution's first anniversary. Six of them were arrested and will be deported according to their website statement. One of them is activist Radhika Sainath who has talked to Los Angles Times describing the details of her arrest.
Zainab Al-Khawaja was arrested two days before the anniversary for the second time in few months. She is a prominent blogger and the daughter of opposition leader Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja who is hunger striking as he serves a life sentence in jail. This tweet came in remembrance:
@Freealkhawaja: As @angryarabiya spends her 3rd day in prison 4 attempting 2 return 2 Pearl Square, #Bahrain govt renews violence against protesters
News of slow Internet and disrupted television channels has also circulated through social media sites. One of the BBC's shows tweeted in this regard:
@BBC_WHYS: British expat says #BBC World Service has been shut down in Bahrain.
This post is part of our special coverage Bahrain Protests 2011.
February 14 2012
West Papua: A Different Side of the Independence Struggle through Video
A video letter from a woman in West Papua to an Indonesian soldier echoes the stories of many other women in the area. In this case, she asks the soldier, who was once based in her village, to please write and return to meet his daughter.
This video is part of the efforts Engage Media is making to give coverage to the issues in the region, along with other project partners.
The Papuan Voices project overcomes political, geographical and financial barriers - as well as lack of technology - to bring important Papuan stories to the world. In doing so, it shines light on the injustices that regularly occur behind the closed doors of this resource-rich and restive province.
Love Letter to a Soldier is subtitled in different languages, including English, Tagalog, Malay, Indonesian, Thai and Tetum.
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