/2018

Singapore government threatens critics and independent media with defamation claims · Global Voices

▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/12/11/singapore-government-threatens-critics-and-independent-media-with-defa

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Two separate defamation cases against a news site and blogger in Singapore have put the country’s severe restrictions on free speech back in the spotlight.

The cases, which target blogger Leong Sze Hian and the political news site The Online Citizen, re-raise longstanding concerns about the consequences of criminal defamation laws for freedom of expression. In Singapore, defamation is an offense that carries a maximum penalty of two-year imprisonment and a fine.

#singapour #droits_humains #internet #média #censure

Zimbabwe’s black rhinos at risk as China reverses a 25-year ban on horns · Global Voices
▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/11/10/zimbabwes-black-rhinos-at-risk-as-china-reverses-a-25-year-ban-on-horn

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On October 31, 2018, the Chinese government released a statement declaring the reversal of a 25-year ban on the use of tiger bones and rhino horns, making it legal to use parts “obtained from the animals in captivity for scientific, medical and cultural purposes”.

The Chinese State Council said that powdered forms of rhino horn and bones from dead tigers could be used in “qualified hospitals by qualified doctors”. The animal products must be obtained from authorized farms, and animal parts classified as “antiques” can be used in “cultural exchanges if approved by the cultural authorities”.

#rhino #zimbabwe #chine #rhinocéros

A 15-year-old rape victim is the latest collateral damage of Duterte’s drug war · Global Voices
▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/11/02/a-15-year-old-rape-victim-is-the-latest-collateral-damage-of-dutertes-

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Philippines’ President Rodrigo #Duterte drug war has reached a new low this week when a police officer was arrested for raping the 15-year-old daughter of detained drug suspects in the capital Manila.

Photos of officer Eduardo Valencia of the Philippine National Police (PNP) pleading with his superiors for having brought the teenager to a motel in exchange for the release of her parents have gone viral. Medical tests showed signs of rape.

Critics of President Duterte say it is his misogyny, rape jokes, and repeated assurances to defend police and military in the course of his government’s anti-drug and counterinsurgency operations that has normalized a macho culture of sexual abuse.

#philippines #viol #culture_du_viol #sexisme #machisme #violence

Netizen Report: How WhatsApp (and $3 million) helped carry Brazil’s Jair #Bolsonaro to victory · Global Voices
▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/11/01/netizen-report-how-whatsapp-and-3-million-helped-carry-brazils-jair-bo

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The Advox Netizen Report offers an international snapshot of challenges, victories, and emerging trends in Internet rights around the world. This report covers the events we tracked in October 2018.

On October 28, Latin America’s largest democracy elected a president whose campaign was propelled by violence, vicious rumors of fraud and a cascade of online news and information that has proven to be false.

#brésil #réseaux_sociaux #whatsapp

A project in #Nepal is documenting and sharing testimonials from the 10-year armed conflict · Global Voices
▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/11/02/a-project-in-nepal-is-documenting-and-sharing-testimonials-from-the-10

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The Nepalese Civil War, known popularly as the Maoist conflict, was a bloody 10-year armed conflict between the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the government of Nepal which saw forced disappearances, rape, torture, death, and the displacement of thousands of Nepalese citizens.

To ensure that the victims of this violence won’t be forgotten, an online multimedia project called Memory, Truth & Justice is documenting, archiving and sharing personal stories of survivors and families of the victims who were lost to the conflict.

#guerre #conflits #mémoire

For Calypso History Month in #Trinidad_& _Tobago, #metoo does a double-take on empowering tunes · Global Voices
▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/10/31/for-calypso-history-month-in-trinidad-tobago-metoo-does-a-double-take-

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In honour of Trinidad and Tobago’s Calypso History Month, the Global Voices Caribbean team put together a (non-comprehensive) list of songs whose lyrics empower women. The post drew a lot of attention, sparking wonderful discussion threads in which social media users added their own favourites, or questioned why one calypso or another was left out — or, in some cases, included.

Activist and cultural enthusiast Tillah Willah disagreed with the inclusion of Kitch’s “Miss Tourist” and “Flag Woman”, as she thinks “they fall into the category of men giving women instructions about what to do with their bodies.”

True, much of calypso and its spin-off, soca, is quite instructional and often zeros in on what women should and should not be doing. In the case of “Flag Woman”, though, it could be debated that the woman is the one who holds the authority:

#caraïbs #droits_humains #droits_des_femmes

#Madagascar citizens demand transparency in a fishy deal with China · Global Voices
▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/10/31/madagascar-citizens-demand-transparency-in-a-fishy-deal-with-china

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n September 2018, Hery Rajaonarimampianina, the incumbent president of Madagascar, announced that a 10-year fishing agreement had been finalized between the Malagasy Agency for Economic Development and Promotion of Enterprises and Taihe Century Investments Developments Corporation, a Chinese business consortium.

According to sources in Madagascar, the president had negotiated the deal with almost no input from his administration, parliament or civil society. Madagascar’s main development partners, including the World Bank and the European Union were not informed of the deal either.

#pêchs #chine

Israa Al-Ghomgham, a Saudi woman facing the death penalty for peaceful protest · Global Voices
▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/10/31/israa-al-ghomgham-a-saudi-woman-facing-the-death-penalty-for-peaceful-

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uman rights advocate Israa Al-Ghomgham is facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, for her non-violent human rights related activities.

Al-Ghomgham was arrested in 2015 along with her husband, activist Mousa Al-Hashim, over their roles in anti-government protests in Al-Qatif back in 2011, when pro-democracy protests spread across the Middle East and North Africa.

#arabie_saoudite #barbares #droits_humains

Google caves in to Russian demands, censors videos promoting a protest rally · Global Voices

▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/09/08/google-caves-in-to-russian-demands-censors-videos-promoting-a-protest-

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One day before a major rally against an unpopular pension reform was planned in Russia, Google informed the rally organizers, the Anti-Corruption Foundation, that it was taking down their YouTube videos promoting the rally, citing violation of Russia’s laws.

Russia’s administrative code imposes a “day of silence” on the day before an election, and all political campaigning is prohibited. The rally coincides with mayoral elections in Moscow on Sunday, September 9, as well as polling in other regions. Ads for several videos promoting the rallies in the 80 Russian cities where they were scheduled to take place were rejected, and the videos themselves were taken down by YouTube.

#russie #internet #google #censure

#Kazakhstan commemorates Stalin’s Terror · Global Voices
▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/05/31/kazakhstan-commemorates-stalins-terror

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Svetlana Tynybekova was born in 1939, on the tail-end of a tidal wave of terror that ripped through the Soviet Union, sweeping up her family with it.

Her grandfather, a Kazakh intellectual and a former minister in the Soviet government of Central Asia, had been shot as an enemy of the people. Her grandmother was languishing in the Gulag.

“It’s unnatural, it’s inhumane, that a child should live having never met their grandmother and never see their grandfather at all,” said Tynybekova, a sprightly and alert 78-year-old, recalling her family’s past in an interview in her apartment in Astana last November.

On May 31, Kazakhstan will hold its annual commemoration of those, like Tynybekova’s family, who were caught up by Soviet repression.

#staline #urss #ex-urss #soviétisme

Japanese high school girls wear badges warning would-be train gropers: ‘I’m not going to take it! · Global Voices

▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/05/16/japanese-high-school-girls-wear-badges-warning-would-be-train-gropers-

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A campaign in Japan aimed at high school girls provides special tin buttons for them to wear while riding the train to deter groping and other forms of sexual assault.

The Chikan Prevention Activities Center (痴漢抑止活動センター) organizes the campaign, which is in its third year. The word Japanese word “chikan” is used to describe both the act of groping as well as the gropers themselves.

The buttons feature a variety of messages that remind readers that chikan is a crime and that the wearer will not endure the assault quietly.

痴漢抑止バッジが目指すのは、意志の“見える化”。情報を見せて加害者に「痴漢行為をやめる」という行動を取らせます。傍観者には「守ろう」という意識が生まれます。▻https://t.co/PsijRI4LEi #立ちあがれJK pic.twitter.com/qaaM56bbcT

— 痴漢抑止活動センター＠公式 (@scb_info) May 10, 2018

The aim of the “chikan deterrent button” is show how much [the people wearing it] hate chikan. It’s an effort to make potential chikans to understand they must stop sexual harassment and sexual assault.

For women who commute by train, chikan is unfortunately common. According to the Japan Times:

#japon #viol #violences_sexuelles

Brexit and bias? The framing of immigrants in the media · Global Voices

▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/04/17/brexit-and-bias-the-framing-of-immigrants-in-the-media

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Recently, Facebook’s confirmed sharing of 50 million profiles with Cambridge Analytica has made big headlines, especially in connection to the US. But reports of this collusion have been in the news for some time in the UK, particularly in relation to the 2016 national referendum to leave the European Union otherwise known as “Brexit.” In journalist Carole Cadwalladr’s words last year, democracy itself was “hijacked” through Cambridge Analytica operations; her report called it the “Great British Brexit Robbery” (a report that is still the subject of legal complaints).

To what extent technological platforms have been used to shape public response is a matter of strong concern, as with the case of Brexit. Anyone who has been paying attention to Britain’s departure from the European Union next year knows that it is a topic that provokes intense emotion. So, is there something in the topic of Brexit that disinformation efforts can take advantage of? What perspectives might a high-level, data-driven analysis of Brexit news provide?

#royaume-uni #altérité #brexit #migration #asile

School history assignment stirs up a storm in Jamaica over how slavery should be taught · Global Voices
▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/04/16/school-history-assignment-stirs-up-a-storm-in-jamaica-over-how-slavery

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illel Academy, a private school in an upscale area of Kingston, was at the centre of a recent debate over a history assignment for Grade 9 students which asked students to create a model for the punishment of a slave.

The wave of online anger began on Facebook, then graduated swiftly to Twitter, where a relatively short-lived but heated discussion began — on history, slavery, race, and class — leaving more questions than answers about how a deeply traumatic period in Jamaica’s history should be taught.

#jamaique #esclavag #enseignment #savoir #mémoire

Though opposition remains, #Trinidad_&_Tobago takes a historic legal step towards #LGBT equality · Global Voices
▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/04/17/though-opposition-remains-trinidad-tobago-takes-a-historic-legal-step-

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On one side of courtroom POS 09 sat a small group of pastors dressed in suits and expressions that were just as stiff. On the other were supporters of sexual and gender minorities’ rights, at least one of them sporting a T-shirt that declared details of the “homosexual agenda” in Trinidad and Tobago: “1. Buy Crix [a popular local cracker] 2. Spend time with family 3. Fight for equality”.

#homosexualité #droits_humains #droits_des_homosexuel·les #caraïbes

GirlsOnBikes: Women Ride Bicycles To Reclaim Public Spaces in Pakistan · Global Voices

▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/04/12/girlsonbikes-women-ride-bicycles-to-reclaim-public-spaces-in-pakistan

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On April 1, 2018, a bicycle rally was organized in major cities of Pakistan (Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi) by prominent Pakistani feminist collective Girls at Dhabas. The ‘Girls On Bikes’ Rally was their third annual event to promote female participation in public events, fight restrictions faced by women in public places and increase awareness about issues faced by women.

In May 2015, two Karachi-based girls, Sadia Khatri and Natasha Ansari, started using the hashtag #GirlsAtDhabas as a space to curate photos of women on Tumblr. The hashtag went viral when hundreds of women across South Asia began sharing photos of themselves at dhabas (roadside cafes) on Twitter and Tumblr, launching a conversation about safe spaces for women. After this, the collective was born.

#bicyclette #vélo #pakistan #féminisme

Guyanese Literary ‘Giant’ #Sir_Wilson_Harris Leaves Behind a ‘Literacy of the Imagination’ · Global Voices

▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/03/16/guyanese-literary-giant-sir-wilson-harris-leaves-behind-a-literacy-of-

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Sir Wilson Harris, the innovative Guyanese writer who categorised his work as “quantum fiction”, died on March 8, 2018 at his home in England, at the age of 96.

Widely considered to be a pioneering voice in English literature, with a beguiling intellect and masterful grasp of language, Harris began his career in Guyana as a land surveyor. The job took him on jaunts to the country’s fascinating interior, where he grew close the indigenous people who lived there. The knowledge they shared with him and the majestic backdrop of the Amazon rainforest would go on to feature in many of his novels. He explained, “I look to create a kind of community that has a literacy of the imagination in it, that can unlock polarisations and fanaticisms that bedevil us.”

Beginning in the mid 1940s, Harris’ poetry was published — alongside that of other important poets like Martin Carter — in Kyk-Over-Al, one of the region’s definitive publications of the post-World War II era. Harris soon transitioned his metaphorical skill to other literary genres, expanding his writing to include essays and novels.

#gutane #littérature

Why Did Women Journalists Strike in Spain ? · Global Voices
▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/03/16/why-did-women-journalists-strike-in-spain

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Some 8,000 women journalists from Spain, among them the author of this post, recently signed a manifesto called “Journalists On Strike,” which was read during the “Feminist Strike” that took place on March 8 in a dozen cities in Spain.

Neither the manifesto nor the strike were initiated by a union, political party, or media source, as is often the case. For the first time, women television show hosts, radio presenters, and newscasters decided to turn off their microphones in the studio and take their voices to the streets.

#espagne #feminisme #résistance

From Graffiti to Politics, Anti-Semitic and Neo-Nazi Speech Is Becoming More Visible in Eastern Europe · Global Voices
▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/03/13/from-graffiti-to-politics-anti-semitic-and-neo-nazi-speech-is-becoming

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Recent events in Eastern Europe show a rise in antisemitism rhetoric, including in European Union (EU) members like Bulgaria and other EU candidate countries.

In November, monuments to the Soviet army in the cities of Plovdiv and Sofia, Bulgaria, a country that was a close ally of the USSR during its existence, were vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti. Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, instead of condemning the graphic show of anti-Semitism, used the fact to try to revise the history of the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews during World War II.

Who Is Responsible for the Avalanche of Garbage That Killed 16 in #Mozambique? · Global Voices

▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/02/27/who-is-responsible-for-the-avalanche-of-garbage-that-killed-16-in-moza

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Mozambique’s government is set to speed up closure of the country’s largest waste disposal site, following the collapse of a mound of rubbish that led to the deaths of 16 people on 19 February. The tragedy exposed the poor waste management in the capital Maputo, as well as the precarious situation of the hundreds of garbage collectors living near the site.

#avalanche_de_déchets #environnement #pollution #waste

These Sámi Women Are Trying to Keep Their Native Skolt Language Alive · Global Voices
▻https://globalvoices.org/2018/02/24/these-sami-women-are-trying-to-keep-their-native-skolt-language-alive

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Tiina Sanila-Aikio isn’t your everyday president. The 34-year-old is the head of the Sámi people in Finland, the only indigenous population recognized in the European Union. She is also the creator of the world’s first Skolt-language rock albums. Skolt is a Sámi language spoken by just 300 people.

Although the Sámi population numbers at least 75,000, their languages are dying out. The Sámi are made up of nine different tribes across Norway, Sweden, Russia and Finland and speak various dialects. The lack of Sámi language education means young Sámis are growing up not speaking their mother tongue.

#scandinavie #same #langues #language