A new interactive online game by human rights organization Breakthrough uses video to illustrate the injustice many detained immigrants and their families have faced. In Homeland Guantanamo, players assume the role of a journalist trying to get more information on real life detainee who has died in custody.

By navigating around a 3-D model of a detention facility, and watching video interviews with real detainees, players pick up clues while learning important facts about the injustices suffered by immigrants caught up in a judicial system seemingly designed to deport as many people as possible.

One of the videos in the game features a woman from Saint Lucia whose 17 year-old daughter was jailed for 3 years, having once been caught and fined for smoking marijuana.

A New York Times newspaper article about a 54 year-old tailor from Guinea who died in a detention center in New Jersey is the source of inspiration for the Homeland Guantanamo game.

Once the mystery at the end of the game is solved, players are invited to view the “memorial garden” devoted to all those who have died, and can post comments, write their own testimonials or upload photos.

Online voices for the voiceless

Human Rights Watch estimates that more than 300,000 people have been deported for non-violent minor offenses (as compared to 140,000 for violent offenses) since 1996. There is not much public awareness about this issue in the United States, in spite of the fact that 87 men and women have died in detention centers in the United States since 2003.

Last year, Breakthrough gained access to interview three legal permanent residents inside a detention center for another computer game with a similar goal, called I.C.E.D. (”I Can End Deportation”).

Many other activists campaigning on behalf of immigrants in the United States also turn to online citizen media to spread awareness.

In LaGrange, Georgia Anabaptist Christian activists have created this video of a protest in front of an immigrant detention center with more than 1000 inmates (via Young Anabaptist Radicals).

On the blog for the organization, One America with Justice for All, Pramila Jayapal invites people to read their report on human rights abuses at a detention center in Tacoma, Washington saying:

I believe America is so much better than this. And I believe that most Americans, if they knew what was happening in their name at our detention centers across the country, the would stop this injustice. Most Americans want people to be treated fairly and humanely.

Alton Ellis, the Jamaican musician who was a major pioneer of rocksteady music in the 1960s, died last Friday, 10 October, after a year's battle with cancer. As the Jamaica Gleaner says , though Ellis never had a big international hit — unlike near contemporaries like Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff — the "godfather of rocksteady" was a major influence on the following generation of Jamaican musicians, and he has long been considered a Jamaican musical legend.

As news of his death spread over the weekend, members of the Jamaican music scene paid tribute to his talent, his voice, and his personality. Tributes appeared in the Caribbean blogosphere as well. "We've lost a great pioneer," wrote literary blogger Geoffrey Philp.

… the sheer innocence and optimism of Ellis's music reminds me of a time when the island was not ruled by fear of the gunman, and you could walk down the street singing, "I'm Just a Guy," or even try singing it to a dawta . For here was a song written in your own idiom and without any apologies for the emotion or delivery.

Philp linked to a YouTube clip of Ellis performing one of his best known songs, "I'm Still in Love". Afrobella also delved into the YouTube archive , for footage of Ellis performing "I'm Just a Guy" and "Girl I've Got a Date" . She commented:

My favorite of his hits is “I’m Just a Guy.” That’s a sentiment you don’t often hear in music now. Humility, romance, and earnest yearning for love. I hope you find it as refreshing as I do.

And Afrobella also sent out a message on Twitter for fansof today's Jamaican music:

For those of you who don't know, Alton Ellis sang the original "I'm Still in Love W U" that Sean-da-Paul covered

Lowrie-Chin Post added , "Alton Ellis flavoured our lives with his rich lyrics and voice." And Antilles , the blog of the Caribbean Review of Books , noted that there was some confusion over Ellis's actual birth date, and linked to an obituary message at the Trojan Records website. YardFlex meanwhile reported a rumour that Ellis would be given a state funeral in Jamaica.

Stunner's Afflictions posted a simple message of tribute . "Alton Ellis had the power to sway his audience both young and old to his soothing music," he wrote. "He was one of the crowd favorites…. This great Jamaican music icon will be dearly missed."

We should recall that the term “Angolagate”, also known as the Mitterrand-Pasqua affair, refers to a political scandal that dates back to 1992, when José Eduardo dos Santos realised his military disadvantage against Jonas Savimbi's UNITA, which at the time had gained more than 80% of Angolan territory. Facing this situation, the Angolan president chose to break the United Nations sanctions prohibiting arms trading to which Angola was subject, and acquired more than 400 tanks, around 150,000 shells, more than 100,000 anti-personnel mines, around a dozen helicopters, a handful of warships and other weapons originally from the former Soviet Union.

The arms sales cost around $790m, and were made through a Paris-based consortium of companies named  Brenco International. Its head, Pierre Falcone, and Israeli politician Arkadi Gaydamak were major players in facilitating this whole mission and are now in the dock. Altogether, 40 other defendants, some of whom are high profile members of France’s political establishment, are to go on trial and face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

The trial began last Monday, October 6th, and investigations should last until March 4th next year. In this first week, there has been very little reaction on the Angolan blogosphere, and the media is also quiet.

One of the few bloggers to comment on the issue, Roberto Ivens from Nos Cus de Judas blog [pt] reveals an unusual fact regarding the absence of Angolan defendants in this process:

“Não haver neste processo um único arguido angolano não deixa de ser curioso. Que todo o material de guerra, tanques, navios, helicópteros, obuzes, minas, tivesse entrado em Angola sem que ninguém o houvesse solicitado faz pensar que, afinal, poderá ter havido uma..invasão estrangeira?!”

The French justice also accuses Jean-Christophe Miterrand, son of the former late president Miterrand, former French Socialist Party Southern Africa expert Jean-Bernard Curial and Charles Pasqua, the former Interior Minister, among others. Moçambique para Todos [pt] blog also joins the “Angolate” talks with an article by Angolan Eugénio Costa Almeida:

“Pois então não é que a justiça francesa, sem tomar em linha de conta os superiores interesses da República Francesa, decidiu iniciar o julgamento deste processo, com acusações que vão desde tráfico de armas, abuso de confiança, fraude fiscal e tráfico de influências. Tudo por causa de uns míseros 420 carros de combate, 150 mil obuses, 170 minas anti-pessoais, 12 helicópetros e 6 navios de guerra, eventualmente comprados por Angola e para os quais uns quantos auferiram umas míseras dezenas de milhares de dólares em “luvas”. Gingubas ou peanuts, como diriam os nossos amigos norte-americanos, eventualmente depositadas em contas obscuras em empresas, cidades francesas, suíças ou israelitas, antes de seguir para as de companhias e empresas financeiras sedeads em paraísos fiscais onde o dinheiro “adormece” por uns tempos antes de voltar a circular…é que parar é morrer, e há tantas quintas e palácios na Europa para serem comprados”.

As expected, Angola denies wrongdoing and rejects the accusations of illegal arms trafficking and tax evasion, saying that the material was legal, was not of French origin and did not pass through France. The Angolan authorities threaten to retaliate against France on the country's oil interests.

This trial comes at a bad time for the country, as France has tried to forge closer relations with the Angolan government since the beginning of the year. Nicolas Sarkozy's visit to Angola five months ago being evidence of this.