Following a long silence after the ninth edition, the tenth video of the series has been just put on line:

Anna Gueye used the opportunity to ask Anne Morin some questions.

Anna Gueye (Global Voices): Why did you create this series?

Anne Morin: Je ne pouvais pas juste rester là à attendre des infos de la presse et je voulais rester en lien avec les amis du Mali et Awa en particulier qui est une amie récente mais avec laquelle je partage beaucoup de choses car elle est aussi réalisatrice de documentaires.
C’est une conversation entre Awa et moi; ce qui moi me soucie c’est par rapport à notre projet d’adoption d’un enfant malien.

Why Mali?

Mes beaux-parents (70 et 75 ans) font de l’humanitaire dans le pays Dogon depuis 10 ans. Ils ont créé une association Jean d’Argile qui en association avec via Sahel a monté un laboratoire biologique dans l’hôpital de Sangha. Cela fait donc des années que je vais au Mali.

In the videos above you say that international adoptions have been stopped in Mali. Why is that?

Tout a commencé avec la promulgation du nouveau code de la famille, en janvier 2012, dont l’article 540 limite l’adoption-filiation aux seuls ressortissants maliens. Pendant quelques mois, malgré tout, l'adoption a continué comme avant. Mais en novembre, la Ministre de la Promotion de l’Enfant, de la Femme et de la Famille, Madame Alwata Ichata Sahi, a décidé d’arrêter les adoptions internationales. Il s’agissait alors de répondre à une lettre du Secrétaire de la Convention de La Haye, traité international régissant l’adoption et dont le Mali est signataire. Cette lettre demandait aux autorités maliennes de se mettre en concordance avec le traité international [qu’elles ont signé] et proposait deux alternatives : (i) soit arrêter les adoptions internationales vers des non-Maliens puisque la  nouvelle loi nationale l’interdisait ; (ii) soit de modifier la loi. Les autorités maliennes ont choisi la première alternative, et sans préavis aucun.

How many prospective adopters are affected?

A l'époque, environ 150 dossiers de candidats étrangers à l'adoption (Français en majorité, Italiens, Espagnols, Canadiens…) avaient été dûment sélectionnés sur des critères moraux et matériels. Leur probité avait alors été reconnue. Ces candidats sélectionnés, attendaient, en confiance, parfois depuis des années, que le Mali leur confie un enfant abandonné. Existait alors un engagement mutuel entre eux et le Mali.

Was a transitional policy considered?

Malheureusement non. La Convention de La Haye est pourtant très précise : Retarder le placement familial permanent d'un enfant, surtout dans les cas de transition pourrait être contraire  au principe supérieur de l'enfant. Or, aucune politique transitoire n'a été mise en place. Les placements n'ont pas été retardés, ils ont brutalement cessé. Et ce qui était cyniquement prévisible advient désormais: l'adoption par les ressortissants maliens étant dérisoire, les pouponnières souffrent d'un effectif pléthorique. Autrefois financées en grande partie par des ONG étrangères de parents adoptifs et candidats à l’adoption, elles ont vus, avec l'arrêt de l'adoption internationale, leur budget fondre. Ce qui signifie, très pragmatiquement qu'elles manquent de tout : eau, lait, nourriture, l'essentiel pour survivre, sans parler de couches ou de biberons ; cela signifie qu'elles ne peuvent plus rémunérer leur personnel, que les enfants manquent de soins (*).

En outre, on soupçonne une recrudescence des infanticides, l'abandon étant interdit au Mali et les pouponnières étant surchargées.

Ce constat ne vient pas de nous. Il est admis de tous les acteurs de l'adoption au Mali qui se sont rassemblés du 16 au 18 mai à Bamako, à l'initiative du Ministère de la Promotion de la Femme et de l'Enfant, lors de l'Atelier de concertation sur l'adoption. Tous se sont accordés sur la nécessité absolue de solutions d'urgence humanitaire.

How might the situation change?

La seule recommandation que préconise le ministère est une modification de la loi et ce après les prochaines élections, prévues  en juillet. Au mieux, ce ne serait donc pas avant de nombreux mois que les apparentements et les adoptions reprendraient.

Les enfants sont déjà en attente et manquent de tout depuis 8 mois. Dans la vie d'un nourrisson, 8 mois sont une éternité. La temporalité de la démarche législative, pour légitime qu'elle soit, ne doit pas venir en opposition avec la temporalité d'un nourrisson.

La solution humanitaire d'urgence est pourtant à portée de main : apparenter les candidats déjà sélectionnés,  ceux-là même qui se sont engagés à aimer et élever dans leur foyer un enfant du Mali dans le respect de sa culture d'origine.

C'est peut-être une lecture interprétative de la loi mais elle a déjà été faire au début du mois de mai 2013 : 8 jugements d'adoption d'enfants apparentés avant octobre 2012  auprès de familles européennes, ont enfin eu lieu. Dans l'intérêt supérieur de l'enfant, et parce qu'il y a urgence, qu'il y a non-assistance à personne en danger, cette interprétation-là est la bonne.

(*) Gifts are regularly sent to nurseries for homeless infants and there, 4 thousand litres of milk has been made up – diapers and clothes should be able to go next week. There are one hundred children available for adoption in Bamako.

Written by Anna Gueye · Translated by Jane Ellis · View original post [fr] · comments (0)
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‘It’s kind of absurd to me that we’re even having this discussion. The God I serve says we are to love one another.’

Breezeblog comments on Bermuda's “pass[ing] [of] the amendment to the Human Rights Act making it illegal to discriminate against someone because of their sexual orientation.”

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From the start, most Russian sympathies have tended to be with the protesters, a phenomenon the controversial writer and head of the Other Russia opposition group Eduard Limonov ascribed [ru] to the Russian national character:

Мы, российские граждане, всегда надеемся, что восставшие против своих правительств победят, всегда инстинктивно встаём на их сторону. Объясняется этот феномен крайне просто. Поскольку мы ненавидим своё правительство и всё руководство нашей страны, и хотим, чтобы оно оставило нас, как можно быстрее; мы солидаризируемся инстинктивно с любой борьбой против правительств.

We Russian citizens always hope that those rising up against their governments will win, instinctively flocking to their side. This phenomenon is quite easily explained. As we hate our government and all those who rule our country and want for them to leave us, the quicker the better, we instinctively express our solidarity with any struggle against the state.

“Unrest in Istanbul”, June 11, 2013, Photo by Eser Karadağ CC2.0

Limonov, however, went on to explain that in Turkey's case the sympathy was not just a reflex. Noting the centrality of environmentalism to sparking the Taksim protests, Limonov wrote “the Turks appeared very similar to us, like Chirikova and her Khimki Forest [en].”

Limonov wasn't alone, as many Russians took to Twitter and LiveJournal to express their support of the protesters. Arkady Babchenko, a Russian journalist who blogged about the Istanbul protests from the ground, was highly critical [ru] of Erdoğan's response (he was later detained, beaten [ru] and deported from Turkey [en].)

По поводу переговорщиков (вчера одиннадцать человек ездили к Эрдогану на переговоры, насколько я понял, ни о чем не договорились, но это не точно) – не то, чтобы разброд и шатание, но разговоры уже начались. Очень грамотный ход со стороны Эрдогана. Разделяй и властвуй. Умно. У Путина учится.

As for the negotiators (yesterday [June 12, 2013] eleven people went to Erdoğan for negotiations, as far as I known they haven't reached any agreement, but that's not clear) — it's not so much confusion and disharmony [that they've caused], but people have already started to talk. An expert move on Erdoğan's part. Divide and rule. Clever. He's learning from Putin.

Comparisons of Erdoğan to Putin abounded, particularly on Twitter. Real_Estate_Mos [ru] tweeted:

Эрдоган – это такой турецкий Путин..

Erdoğan is a sort of Turkish Putin

Riffing on both leaders’ fondness for presenting themselves as public servants, sergeiolevskii [ru] tweeted:

Эрдоган: “я слуга народа”.
Путин: “я как раб на галерах”.
Чего же так сложно избавиться от этих слуг и рабов?

Erdoğan – “I'm a servant of the people”
Putin- “I work like a galley slave”
Why is it so hard to get rid of these servants and slaves?

Pro-Putin Russians were reticent to voice their support for Erdoğan, under whose premiership Russo-Turkish relations have soured, particularly over the issue of Syria. Nevertheless, Nikolai Starikov, a hard-line Putin supporter, writer, and conspirologist stated [ru] that the protests had been whipped up by the Americans in order to create disorder in Turkey and force the government to support Syrian opposition fighters, which Starikov alleges they have been trying to avoid:

Не хочет – нужно заставить. И вот «турецкая весна» на улицах. Погромы, драки с полицией, попытки штурма офисов правящей партии. И все из-за планов сноса одного парка, как говорят нам СМИ? Полная чушь. Цель беспорядков – заставить Турцию активно вписаться в сирийский конфликт и помочь исламистам.

[Turkey] doesn't want [to get involved] so they need to be compelled. And there you have it: “The Turkish Spring” is on the streets. Pogroms, clashes with police, attempts to storm the offices of the ruling party. And all from plans to demolish a single park, as the media says? Complete rubbish. The aim of the disturbances is to force Turkey to sign up for the Syrian conflict and help the Islamists.

In the past Starikov has repeatedly claimed the US State Department is behind Russia's opposition movement, as an active means of weakening the country.

Twitter user aliciamillor [ru] made an argument in a series of tweets [ru] that since Erdoğan had offered to hold a referendum on the park, he was better than some other western politicians:

Браво! Эрдоган предложил провести референдум. Того же самого требовали фр-зы по поводу гей браков. Олланд отказал в груб форме,собаками и газом. Вывод – Эрдоган больше демократ чем Олланд.

Bravo! Erdoğan has proposed holding a referendum. The French demanded the same thing for gay marriage. [French President] Hollande refused this very rudely, with dogs and [tear] gas. Consequently, Erdoğan is a bigger democrat than Hollande.

One Russophone group that did seem to mostly support Erdoğan were citizens of the Central Asian republics, most of whom are Turkic peoples, ethnically and linguistically related to the Turks of Anatolia. One user [ru, uz] in Uzbekistan (whose own president responded to popular protest in 2005 by massacring [en] hundreds of people) applauded Erdoğan [ru] for his relative restraint:

Эрдоган поступил правильно , предупредил , не отреагировали , и теперь выгнал всех нахрен !!! и вообще можно было без предупреждении

Erdoğan has acted correctly, he warned [the protesters], they didn't react, and now he's gotten them the hell out of there!!! and anyway, he didn't have to warn them

Another user, Eva_Alli [ru, kg] of Kyrgyzstan, whose country has also been plagued by unstable government, also praised [ru] Erdoğan's steadfastness.

Эрдоган красавчик. нам бы такого. знает, что делает, имеет свою точку зрения и ни перед кем не пасует. лев в мужском роде. одним словом.

Erdoğan is one cool dude. Would that we had someone like that. He knows what he's doing, has his own point of view and nothing gets past him. A sort of a lion, in a word.

Leonine Erdogan is anything but cowardly, according to some RuNet users. YouTube screenshot. June 18, 2013.

Each of these groups of RuNet users perceives Turkey through the prism of their own domestic concerns: members of the opposition see an example to follow, while regime supporters see the disturbances as evidence of foreign meddling and western hypocrisy. Conversely, Central Asians seem to envy their Anatolian cousins for having a more moderate or more decisive leader than they do. While social media has clearly made it much easier for users to closely follow and discuss events thousands of kilometers away, their concerns suggest that for many, all politics is still local.

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In two blog posts, one from Trinidad and Tobago and the other from Cuba, there is an interesting juxtaposition between high-tech spying and old-fashioned intelligence, even though they both pit the citizens against the state. ICT Pulse, which prides itself on discussing global technology issues from a Caribbean point of view, opens by saying:

The recent revelations of the breadth and depth of the telecoms surveillance being conducted by the United States has been highlighting the extent to which communication is no longer private.

Unless you have been wholly disconnected from international news over the last two weeks, we have been inundated with reports about the extent of the surveillance and spying being done by the United States National Security Agency (NSA). Although from time to time we here at ICT Pulse have been discussing the fact that Internet privacy is an illusion, and suggesting ways in which to improve your privacy online, these recent revelations indicate a more pervasive (and government-sanctioned) programme exists.

The post then sums up the United States’ approach to telecommunications surveillance, explaining:

Through electronic surveillance projects, most notably one codenamed PRISM, the NSA has been collecting data from…telecoms companies, such as AT&T and Verizon, and from large internet properties, such as Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, AOL, YouTube, Skype and Apple. When news about PRISM was made public, some of companies sought to refute claims that the NSA was collecting the data ‘directly from the servers'. However, subsequent reports have suggested that the US government has indeed been getting access to user content.

To defuse some of the outcry that occurred in the US when the story broke, the government revealed that its surveillance has been geared primarily towards identifying potential threats to America.

With regard to voice calls, the US government indicated that it collects the metadata of those transactions, and did not necessarily listen in on people’s conversations. However, the metadata, while not capturing the actual content of persons’ interactions, can provide enough information to deduce the nature of those conversations.

So what does that mean for people who live in the Caribbean?

Our telephone conversations generally might fall outside of US jurisdiction, and so not be immediately subject to PRISM and other forms of scrutiny. However, in circumstances where Internet Messaging and Voice over Internet Protocol- (VoIP) type services are being used, e.g. Skype, Viber, and iChat, and especially when the servers might be located in the US, those interactions could be subject to US government surveillance.

The blog is careful to issue a warning:

We…ought to bear in mind, that even in the region, law enforcement is increasingly seeking to have access to and to rely on the tapping of phones (fixed and mobile/cellular) in their investigations. In many Caribbean countries, mobile/cellular phone registration is mandatory, which means that, up to a point, the original owner of a device is known. Moreover, from time to time, proposals are mooted to relax device-tapping or call interception procedures – for example so that a government Minister can sanction such activities instead of the courts. Although generally there has been opposition to those proposals, they will continue to rear their head, as law enforcement continues to grapple with crime, and governments place increasing focus on ‘national security'.

With the exception of the European Union, countries worldwide have been relatively silent about the disclosures regarding the depth and breadth of US electronic surveillance. Hence it could cause us to question whether or not, or the extent to which countries, including those in the Caribbean, might have cooperated with the US on such matters.

Tackling what it calls an “over-reliance on US Internet facilities”, the post suggests a possible solution:

We…need to…recognise that our personal and business-related data could also be subject to US scrutiny, should they be stored in the US.

From a sovereignty and national security perspective, a case could be made for individual countries or even the region collectively, to actively develop their own web hosting, server facilities, Internet infrastructure, etc., in order to encourage their citizens to bring their data closer to home.

In Cuba, however, according to Yoani Sanchez, “home” is exactly where the spying originates from:

His own neighbor watches him. No one has confirmed it, he hasn’t read it any report, and he doesn’t have any friends in the police who have warned him. He’s simply not stupid. Whenever he opens the gate to his house, a white head peers out from next door. For every five times that he comes and goes, at least three times he runs into the old man who lives in the next apartment pretending to water the plants in the passage. The pots are overflowing, but the improvised watcher continues to add more and more water. Also he asks questions, a lot of questions, on the most imponderable topics: Um… what you have in that bag, where did you buy it? It’s been some time since you visited your mother-in-law, right? So he has his own private informer, an intelligence cell — of just one member — focused on his existence.

The post continues:

In an unwritten, but very frequent, formula, most of the people involved in the betrayal of other Cubans also exhibit a great frustration in their personal lives. Not that every unhappy person becomes an informant for State Security, but failure is a breeding ground that the recruiters of informers take advantage of. With these individuals they develop shock troops willing to destroy others.

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The whole process is managed and legitimated by a whole army of high-level psychologists and pedagogues in the name of the common Good.

Erasmo Calzadilla blogs at Havana Times about the state of education in Cuba.

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Jinnah's historic home in Ziarat, Balochistan, where he spent the last days of his life with his sister Fatima Jinnah in 1948 a year after he led Pakistan to independence, was reduced to ashes on June 15, 2013 after bombs ignited the wooden building. It was serving as a museum with Jinnah's belongings on display and was one of the popular tourist sites in Balochistan.

Separatist group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has taken responsibility.

Pakistan's newly elected parliament condemned the attack. It also passed a unanimous resolution condemning the acts of terrorism in Balochistan, while the government announced the plan to restore Jinnah's residence.

Funkor Childart Center participated in the Children's Literature festival in Quetta in 2012 and painted the Ziarat Residene of Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Used with permission.

Jinnah was the first Governor-General of Pakistan after its independence from British India in 1947 and served in the position for a year before he died. His home was iconic, featuring on the country's 100-rupee note.

Reaction on social media to the attack on his home was strong.

Jamaluddin wrote on his blog in a piece called Jinnah’s burnt Ziarat residency: A piece of Pakistan died today:

June 15, 2013 will be remembered forever. Today, the beautiful building that adorns our hundred rupee notes was burnt and destroyed by militants who flung hand grenades at Jinnah’s residency in Ziarat. All the historical photographs and furniture was destroyed. As always, the militants who committed this despicable act of senseless violence escaped unhurt.

Blogger and columnist Yusra Askari (@YusraSAskari) wrote on Twitter:

@YusraSAskari: Apologies, Mr. Jinnah, we can do no else but hang our head in shame. #Ziarat

Adil Najam (@AdilNajam), blogger and the Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences slammed the bombings:

@AdilNajam: Dastardly. Cowardly. Pathetic. Jinnah Residency in Ziarat attacked. This is attack on an idea. The idea of all of us. The idea of Pakistan.

Freedom fighter and Pashto translator Azad Pashtun (@AzadPashtun) wrote:

@AzadPashtun: Picture of Jinnah's Ziarat residence on the 100 Kaldaar will need updating. pic.twitter.com/YFNl2EIPHs

Journalist & columnist Nadeem Farooq Paracha (@NadeemfParacha) aka NFP, the author of Smoker's Corner, tweeted:

@NadeemfParacha: Maybe BLA fools blew up Jinnah's residency because they feel the state & government are not giving them as much respect as they do to TTP?

Balochistan is Pakistan's biggest but least developed province. It is witnessing the fifth separatist uprising since 1947 and according to The Economist, “this insurgency is stronger than the previous ones.” The attack on the residency shocked many in Pakistan, but not all in Balochistan.

Baloch Hal, Pakistan's first online newspaper from Balochistan, suggested in its editorial “The end of Jinnah?” that the new Pakistani government shouldn't take any actions against Baloch in haste:

The government should instead build a new monument to commemorate the Baloch youths, political activists, journalists and professors who have lost their lives in the conflict. It is meaningless to live in the past and snub the present and the future. If the central government wants to politically address the conflict, it should make sure that the Residency attack is not taken as an opportunity to launch fresh operations in Balochistan or justify the kill and dump operations.

Baloch Hal is blocked in Pakistan. Malik Siraj Akbar, the editor in chief of Baloch Hal like many other Baloch intellectuals lives in the USA.

Pakistani-Canadian writer, broadcaster and a secular Muslim anti-Islamist activist Tarek Fatah (@TarekFatah) wrote:

@TarekFatah (Tarek Fatah): Baloch guerrillas fighting Pakistan occupation, bomb home of country's founder, MA Jinnah. Before-&-after picture. pic.twitter.com/TMF5oe6OYX

Exiled Pakistani journalist and editor-in-chief of The Baloch Hal Malik Siraj Akbar (@MalikSirajAkbar) noted possible hypocrisy in the reaction to the attack:

@MalikSirajAkbar (Malik Siraj Akbar): Jinnah's biggest portrait was smashed outside Ayub Stadium in Quetta in 2006: no reactions. The Residency wasn't even his house

Fasih Ahmed (@therealfasih), Newsweek Pakistan's Editor and first Daniel Pearl Fellow, 2003 wrote:

@therealfasih (Fasih Ahmed): Taliban have killed children, attacked shrines, GHQ. Yet the attack on a house Jinnah stayed at for a few months is the real outrage? #Hello

Written by Qurratulain Zaman · comments (2)
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Photo of Captain Mbaye Diange from the Facebook page of the association bearing his name, used with their permission.

Global Voices posed several questions to Enrico Muratore on the objective of his action via the Association of Captain Mbaye Diagne – Nekkinu Jàmm:

Enrico, could you introduce yourself in a few words?

Hello, I am an ex-United Nations Human Rights Officer who served during, among others, the peace-keeping missions and also worked in Rwanda, a country which I have been really interested in since the 1994 genocide. I am Italian, but I have lived in Africa for 15 years, and in Senegal for 4 years.

On May 31, you organised a ceremony to commemorate a Senegalese soldier who died during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Could you explain to us the reasons for this ceremony?

We were celebrating the memory of Captain Mbaye Diagne, who was a military observer for UNAMIR (United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda). When the genocide started on April 7, 1994, individual unarmed rescue missions immediately started saving all those who could be saved. They started with the children of the Rwandan Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingyimana – who had just been killed, after the massacre of his escort of ten Belgian paras. When the United Nations decided to withdraw nine tenths of their military presence who were already on site (and who could have opposed the genocide), 270 soldiers remained, among them the Captain, who undertook his perilous missions to save the others, until he was killed on May 31, 1994, after having saved, they say, nearly 600 people. So we celebrate the memory of this just and altruistic man who gave his life to save that of others at this time.

What are the initial objectives of the Association? Who are the members? Is it open to other members?

The Association aims to promote the memory of Captain Mbaye Diagne and to support his family’s development, because it is not fair to abandon the families of those who gave themselves for others. Of course, their sacrifice doesn’t mean to say that they didn't love their own families! Therefore, we must do something for them. The President of the Association is Mrs Yacine Diagne, the Captain’s widow; the Vice-President is Colonel Faye who was friend of the Captain and was in the UNAMIR in Rwanda with him; I personally am the General Secretary (GS) and the Captain’s children, Coumba and Cheick are the GS assistants; next, as Treasurer, we have Ras Makha Diop, philosopher, gardener and Senegalese artist, instead of the late lamented good and just Doctor Adotevi. Next, we have founding members such as Pierantonio Costa, ex-Honorary Consul of Rwanda who saved 2000 people from death during the genocide, Mark Doyle who is a principal correspondent for the BBC and previously friend of the Captain, senior civil servant Bacre Ndiaye of the United Nations High Commissioner’s Office of Human Rights, and author of a prescient report on Rwanda when he was the special reporter covering extra-judiciary executions in 1993. We also have other Senegelese and foreigners, including some who participated in one or both United Nations missions in Rwanda, people that had known him or simply appreciated his sacrifice to save the innocents. We are still accepting new members, as long as we are assured that they sincerely admire the Captain, and intend to support our Association’s goals.

He really was a hero! What did people know about him before?

There is a lot of material available on the internet, but it is true to say that the general public around the world does not know of the Captain. Yet his sacrifice has been officially recognised by the Rwandan government, by the then American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and by the Giardino dei Giusti del Mondo [it], an association to honor those who oppose genocide in Italy, among others.

What has been achieved so far?

Creating the Association in itself an achievement because that was not simple. We have a Facebook page named Association of Captain Mbaye Diagne – Nekkinu Jàmm and we are currently setting up a multilingual website; we are organising activities with the press. For example, for example, in this interview [fr] from May 31, his wife described how she was informed of his death and recalls her memories.. The Fatto Quotidiano [it] in Italy, and the past with Radio West Africa for Democracy or the Senegalese media; activities such as the Junior Football Tournament organised with the Senegalese Football Federation; May 31, the prayer vigil in the Captain's family home.

Was he married and did he have children? What became of them?

The family have quite simply been forgotten all this time, now we hope that the association with us has helped them to make themselves be better understood and to find their place while promoting the memory of their husband and father, because this could be very useful in educating youth and people in general, about these troubled and violent times.

Captain Mbaye fell on duty, didn’t he? What have the national authorities and the UN done?

We must ask his wife and Association President Mrs Yacine Diagne, but as far as I know, the United Nations have done nothing apart from pay the life insurance that the Captain had signed up for while at their service, and which paid his family a premium 19 years ago, but nothing more since. The family home is collapsing, they had to look for support from a sister of Yacine; the children have lost years of schooling, the eldest, Coumba, had many health problems, the Captain’s mother is old and sick. Only close family, and several friends, notably from the Army, have done anything; now the Association will do what it can.

As for the dead, only God can look after them. With respect to help for the family, we contacted the Association for the Office of the United Nations for West Africa, a little while ago, but they have not yet responded. We hope they will do so.

Written by Abdoulaye Bah · Translated by Jane Ellis · View original post [fr] · comments (2)
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‘Happy they counted my vote'. Via Sokot-E-Sardi1

Iranians on the web and on the streets of Iran (photo above) say [fa] they are happy that this time their votes in the presidential election on Saturday have been counted. After the 2009 presidential election there were widespread accusations of fraud and protests against the regime.

Hassan Rouhani, a 65 year old cleric and former nuclear negotiator won the election on a platform of “hope and prudence”. Rouhani, who was supported by Iranian reformists in the presidential election, faced five conservative rivals. He has represented Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, on Iran's security council since 1989.

Iranian citizens celebrated Rouhani's victory in different cities. Some also remembered the citizens who died four years ago, in the mass protest movement that erupted after the controversial election.

Joy in Tehran

Tehran: Political prisoners should be released

Nama Jafari has shared a a video where people chant, “In the spring of freedom, Neda's place is empty” referring to the young woman Neda Agha Sultan who was killed in a protest four years ago.

“Basij attacked a young man”

Another video claims Basij paramilitary forces attacked a young man celebrating Rouhani's victory in Vanak Sqaure in Tehran.

Dancing in Mashhad

Celebrations rocked several cities beyond Tehran. In the religious city Mashhad, people can be seen dancing to celebrate Rouhani's victory in this video.

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The European Parliament announced the winners of this year's European Citizen's prize. One of the awards went to the Mortgage Victims’ Platform (PAH in Spanish), a grassroots organization dedicated to alleviating the suffering of people in Spain who have been affected by the subprime crisis and evicted from their homes. According to the European Parliament's website [en], this award is given to individuals and organizations that

personas u organizaciones excepcionales que luchen por los valores europeos, promuevan la integración entre ciudadanos y los Estados miembros o faciliten la cooperación transnacional en el seno de la Unión, y a los que día a día tratan de promover los valores de la Carta de Derechos Fundamentales de la UE.

either facilitate cross-border cooperation within the EU or promote better mutual understanding and closer integration between citizens and member states. It can also be awarded for day-to-day activities reflecting the values enshrined in the EU's charter of fundamental rights.

Collecting signatures for the ILP petition in Berriozar (Navarra). Photo from the PAH network in Navarra

One of PAH's important undertakings was the Popular Legislative Initiative (ILP in Spanish), a petition that seeks to modify the current mortgage law to allow homeowners to transfer the title of their residence to their financial institution and thereby write off their debt, even in cases where the property is worth less than the loan.  According to polls, it has the support of close to 90% of Spaniards. Although the petition obtained almost 1.5 million signatures and was accepted for consideration by the Parliament, PAH decided to withdraw it when it was discovered that the Government intended to approve a law that elicited the following comment from PAH spokesperson Ada Colau:

nos parece inaceptable que el Gobierno pretenda utilizar su mayoría para aprobar una ley que nada tiene que ver con nuestra propuesta. No queremos que lo haga en nuestro nombre. Nosotros la seguiremos defendiendo a través de nuestras campañas de desobediencia, sin renunciar a seguir presionando al Gobierno

we consider it unacceptable that the government should use its majority status to pass a law that has nothing to do with our proposal.  We do not want them to do it in our name. We will continue to defend it through our campaign of civil disobedience, without relinquishing pressure on the government.

PAH has favoured controversial campaigns such as the escraches [en] [a form of targeted public demonstrations] against political figures in order to garner their support for the petition, which resulted in the Partido Popular leadership branding PAH activists “Nazis” and accusing them of supporting pro-ETA groups.

Criticism by netizens of the PP's reaction. Image uploaded to  Twitter by user Rafael Muñoz

Politicians from the governing Partido Popular (PP) have reacted angrily to the awarding of the prize, announced on 6 June 2013. Spanish MEP Carlos Iturgaiz declared:

hoy ha sido Ada Colau, mañana nos pueden traer a Arnaldo Otegi y con el voto de la izquierda salir adelante y dar un premio a Otegi.

Today it was Ada Colau, tomorrow they can bring us Arnaldo Otegi and with the leftist vote go further and get a prize for Otegi.

[Arnaldo Otegi [en] is the historical leader of Herri Batasuna, the political arm of ETA].

Many netizens, criticized the MEP's comment. Cavendish and Tony S.A.G. replied on Twitter:

@lowcost12: -Quién ha dicho que después de Colau vendrá Otegui? -Iturgáiz -No, me refiero a si lo ha dicho alguien con cerebro

@lowcost12: – Who said that after Colau there would be Otegi? – Iturgáiz – I'm not asking whether it was said by someone with half a brain

@Tony_SaG: PP”hoy ha sido Ada Colau,mañana nos pueden traer a Arnaldo Otegui” hoy es el PP, mañana nos pueden traer la vuelta del Generalisimo.

@Tony_SaG: PP “today it was Ada Colau, tomorrow they can bring us Arnaldo Otegui” today it's the PP, tomorrow they might bring back the Generalisimo.

Bosco Martín Algarra, on his blog treinta y muchos says:

Ningún político en su sano juicio, salvo Iturgáiz y algunos compañeros de su partido se atreve a comparar a la PAH con ETA y a Ada Colau con Otegi. Resulta tan desproporcionado que hasta muchos simpatizantes del PP evitan criticar en público a la PAH para no ser identificados con opiniones tan absurdas como las de Iturgáiz. Y lo peor de todo: es Iturgáiz, precisamente alguien que ha padecido el acoso etarra como él, quien utilice de manera tan irresponsable argumentos tan superficiales.

No politician in his right mind, except for Iturgáiz and a few of his fellow party members would dare to compare the PAH to ETA and Ada Colau to Otegi. It is such a disproportionate reaction that many PP sympathizers avoid publicly criticizing PAH so as not to be identified with opinions as absurd as those of Iturgáiz. And worst of all is the fact that someone like Iturgáiz, who has actually suffered harassment by ETA, is using such superficial arguments so irresponsibly.

The Partido Popular's MEPs have indicated they will request the prize be revoked although the European People's Party, to which they belong, supported the prize being awarded to PAH. The Socialist

“In Spain, the prize awarded to anti-eviction militants infuriates the right.” Screen shot of the French daily Le Monde. Tweet by Carmela Ríos

Enrique Barón, former president of the European Parliament and the only Spaniard on the jury commented in an interview with Eldiario.es:

Se aprobó todo por unanimidad y en el caso del premio a la PAH no hubo ningún tipo de debate. Los populares europeos estaban de acuerdo.

Everything was unanimously approved, and in the case of the PAH prize there was no debate of any kind. The European People's Party agreed.

Meanwhile Rafael Hernando, a PP legislator, tweeted:

@Rafa_Hernando Baron PSOE hace trampas para quitarle el Premio del Parlamento Europeo a una discapacitada medallista olímpica y darselo a Colau vaya jeta!

@Rafa_Hernando Baron PSOE is conniving to revoke the European Parliament prize given to a Paralympic medallist and award it to Colau some nerve!

Hernando is referring to Teresa Perales [en], a Spanish Paralympic swimmer and winner of 22 medals—as many as Michael Phelps—who was also nominated. The jury justified its decision arguing that

Los deportistas no reúnen los requisitos de este galardón porque ya tienen su propio reconocimiento en su actividad.

Athletes do not meet the criteria for this prize as they have already received recognition for their endeavours.

The sports spokesperson for the PP , Miriam Blasco, expressed her opinion:

Se quiere castigar al Gobierno pero se le da una patada al deporte paralímpico

They want to punish the Government but Paralympic sports is taking the hit.

To which netizen JAVI responded:

Ya está el PP en pleno en el papel de víctima (el que más les gusta despues del de embusteros) y manipulando a los minusválidos para intentar crear en la opinión pública la sensación de injusticia. Se puede caer más bajo?

The PP is already playing the role of victim (their second favourite after liar) and manipulating the disabled in order to foster a sense of public injustice. Can you get any lower?

Spain's Minister of External Affairs, José Manuel García Margallo, has said he considers that it was an “error on the part of Parliament” to award the prize to PAH alleging that “it has encouraged so-called escraches.”

Image on Facebook from the PAH webpage in the Sant Boi municipality

Although the ruling party is concentrating on the escraches organized by PAH as part of its campaign in favour of the ILP, their platform is above all that of an interest group trying to defend a constitutional right to housing and alleviate the tragedy of foreclosure and eviction—which in 2012 alone left more than 30 000 families homeless (data from the Colegio de Registradores)—by offering legal aid and psychological support to the victims of the housing crisis. Even the European Central Bank, in a report published on May 26 recommended the following to the Spanish government:

«debería adoptarse un conjunto de medidas más amplio que aborde las causas subyacentes de las dificultades relacionadas con las hipotecas y que trate de evitar, en la medida de lo posible, las ejecuciones hipotecarias»

a series of broader measures should be adopted to address the underlying causes of the problems related to mortgages and that try, insofar as possible, to avoid foreclosure.”

Written by Lourdes Sada · Translated by Victoria Robertson · View original post [es] · comments (0)
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At least this is where Maria Baronova, a blogger and opposition activist, ended up after attending a protest against the “propaganda of homosexuality” law on June 11. Baronova, who recently made a splash on the RuNet [GV] by writing a rather naughty public letter criticizing Other Russia leader Eduard Limonov, is one of the defendants in the May 6 civil disorder case [en] and an old hand at participating in opposition rallies. This one in particular proved to be her downfall.

The protest, which took place in front of the Duma, the Russian house of parliament, turned violent from the start. Photo-blogger Ilya Varlamov, who documented the day's events in a LiveJournal post [ru], tweeted [ru]:

У Думы очередной пиздец. Православные бьют ЛГБТ

Sh*t's f*cked up again near the Duma. The Orthodox are beating up the LGBT.

Journalist Tikhon Dzyadko also reported [ru] that religious anti-LGBT activists were out in force:

Было несколько стычек. “Православные” скандировали “Москва не содом”, “ОМОН, дави пидрил”, “Бей пидарасов”, “Христос Воскресе”, “Слава русскому ОМОНу” и проч. ЛГБТ-активистов закидывали яйцами, крапивой и презервативами с говном.

There were several clashes. The “orthodox” chanted “Moscow isn't Sodom,” “SWAT the f*gs,” “Kill the f*ggots,” “Christ has risen,” “Glory to the Russian SWAT” and so on. LGBT activists had eggs, nettles, and condoms filled with sh*t thrown at them.

A scuffle erupts between an LGBT activist (in yellow) and man who threw a condom filled with feces at him. YouTube screenshot. June 14, 2013

Also participating in the pogrom were teenage hooligans, some of them reportedly as young as twelve years old [ru]. The situation was exacerbated by the fact that the police and SWAT teams ostensibly there to control the crowd were largely inactive in stopping assaults on protesters.

It appears that Baronova was a victim of one such assault where the perpetrator was allowed to escape. She tweeted [ru] shortly after the incident, describing how the police were in the process of releasing a detained anti-LGBT activist:

Только что из ОВД Тверское вывели человека, сломавшего нос Адику 22 января. Стали заводить за угол. Я пошла за ними. Тоже зашла за угол В этот момент меня обогнал мужчина в рубашке и галстуке ростом 190+ и резко ударил в живот кулаком, сотрудники Полиции в кол-ве человек 5ти Стали удерж.мужчин,которые его пытались задержать.

Just now from the Tverskoe Police Dept. they've led out the man who broke Adik's nose on January 22. They took him behind the [building] corner. I went behind there as well. At this time I was overtaken by a man wearing a dress shirt and tie, 190 cm tall, who abruptly punched me in the stomach with his fist, and the 5 policemen present at the scene tried to restrain the men who were trying to apprehend him.

According to Baronova, the police did not even try to apprehend the man who assaulted her, and to make it worse, they blocked bystanders who tried to do just that. She described [ru] her assailant on twitter (“Very handsome young man, Russian, 185 cm tall or higher, in a lavender shirt, gray slacks and brown shoes.”), but so far no one has identified him. That's not to say there aren't theories —  for example, Twitter user @basilla_the1st asked [ru] Baronova if she thought it could have been the “cucumber” that punched her (she doesn't think so), referring to an incident last week, when Baronova spit in the face of a man dressed as a cucumber [ru], who was picketing outside her courtroom and demanding prison sentences.

The human cucumber, who many suspect of being a Kremlin-paid plant, before the spitting incident. YouTube screenshot, June 14, 2013.

Self-described journalist and photographer, @willysever, also made reference to the spitting incident, tweeting [ru] cynically:

Ни в жисть не поверю, что г-жа Баронова никому там в глаз не харкнула хотя бы, перед тем, как огрести…

I don't for a second believe that Ms. Baronova didn't, at the very least, spit someone in the eye, before getting jumped…

Baronova was taken to a Moscow hospital for observation, but appears to be doing fine [ru] — she tweeted that no internal organs were damaged, although she is feeling nauseous and has had several spasms. The man who punched her will likely never be found, but Baronova is more concerned [ru] with what her experience says about LGBT rights in Russia. It's nothing good:

Слушайте, обычные активисты и сочувствующие. История с ЛГБТ-протестом совсем другая. Вот совсем. Поведение полиции другое. Агрессия другая Я этого никогда не замечала, но это какая-то абсолютно параллельная реальность, в которой полиция себя ведет иначе.

Listen up, conventional activists and sympathizers. The story with the LGBT protest is completely different [from the regular political protests]. Completely. The police behavior is different. The aggression is different. I never notices this, but it's some kind of utterly parallel reality, where the police behaves completely different.

Written by Andrey Tselikov · comments (1)
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Some Myanmar Buddhist migrants in Malaysia have been attacked in recent weeks which many people believe are related to the ongoing ethnic and religious tension in Myanmar. According to Eleven Media, 6 died and 12 were hospitalized with injuries during the violent attacks against Myanmar nationals in Malaysia from May 30 to June 8.

Myanmar's Embassy in Malaysia initially dismissed the news which angered many Burmese netizens. Ye Htut, Myanmar's Deputy Minister of Ministry of Information clarified[my] the report:

(We) read the news on the Internet about the clashes near a Myanmar monastery at KamPung and Selayang and that some Myanmar nationals died. (We) immediately asked the Myanmar Embassy in Malaysia about this issue at 5 pm and again at 8 pm via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ambassador said the news was false. [...]

A Myanmar national put 11 red roses in front of Malaysia's Embassy in Yangon in honor of Myanmar migrants killed in Malaysia. Photo – Ye Moe's Facebook.

Wai Lin Oo expressed[my] his frustration with the Embassy's response:

It's actually happening! If you want to approve Embassy's words, just prepare a flight in Myanmar to carry the dead bodies back.

Fang Ran asserted[my] a similar point.

People are suffering. They are just simply liars who don't even go outside the Embassy. And they charge us extreme taxes. I can't even mention in words how they often reprimand ( citizens who are seeking refuge in the Embassy). [...] When can we depend on Myanmar government? It's really discouraging. Where is respect for human rights of Myanmar nationals?[...]

Myo Set compared[my] how the governments of other countries are behaving when faced with a similar situation:

When a Japanese was killed in 2007 in Myanmar, a Japan Minister came at once. When Myanmar workers had issues with a Korean factory owner, the Korean Embassy suddenly became involved in the case. North Korea cleared away the books about Kim Jong Ill from book shops in Myanmar. What a shame! US came down to Myanmar once there were issues of Yettaw.

Our turn?

In Malaysia, the Ambassador's mouth got a stroke. Ministry of Information is crippled and Myanmar government is paralyzed.

We are Burmese, a community page of Myanmar citizens around the world questioned the silence of NGOs and media regarding the abuses suffered by Buddhists in Malaysia: 

When riots in Meikhtilar Township in Myanmar happened, (the global) media and international organizations (like the) UN, Human Rights Watch (reported) about it and some even exaggerated the (situation), labeling it ethnic cleansing, genocide, Muslims in Myanmar are being brutally massacred, or something like that….But why are they silent than normal about the current massacre in Malaysia targeting Myanmar Buddhists? How many lives must the Burmese Buddhists sacrifice further to put the (situation) on pages and screens? Please show the so-called RIGHTS you all repeatedly use whenever you get every chance to make the Burmese Buddhists dishonorable in every page and every screen worldwide.

On June 4, when voices became louder and attacks became more serious, the Myanmar government issued an Aide Memoire to Malaysia's Ambassador in Myanmar urging the Malaysian government to investigate the issue immediately and take legal actions against responsible persons. On June 6, Malaysia reported that 900 Myanmar nationals were detained during a security sweep. Myanmar government is preparing[my] to send a team of special representatives to Malaysia.

Since some of the injured Myanmar migrants cannot afford the hospital bills, the Malaysia Kampung Free Funeral Service Social Team (Kampung FFSS) gave donation to the victims. U Aung Ko Win, President of the Kanbawza Bank who also runs Myanmar Airways International (MAI) donated[my] $50,000 US dollars and cut the MAI air ticket fees of the Malaysia-Myanmar route by 50% for the convenience of migrants who wish to go back to Myanmar. Another well-known wealthy personnel, U Zaw Zaw, who is President of Myanmar Football Federation announced[my] that he will donate 1,000 air tickets for those who want to go back to Myanmar, plus additional $20,000 US dollars donation to Kampung FFSS.

Many netizens on Facebook changed their profile pictures to black to grieve the deaths of Myanmar citizens in Malaysia.

Written by Chan Myae Khine · comments (5)
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Freedom of the Press worldwide in 2013. Source: Reporters without Borders on Facebook

(more…)

Written by Rami Alhames · comments (1)
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This month marks the first anniversary of the siege of the old city of Homs, often described as the capital of the Syrian Revolution. Homs, one of the first revolutionary Syrian cities to revolt against the tyranny of Bashar Al Assad, along with 14 neighborhoods and districts of the old city, including Baba Amr, Bab Sbaa, Khalidiya and Deir Balba, has been subjected to bombardment by the Syrian regime, shelling and raids for more than two years, making the daily survival even harder as food and medical supplies dwindle.

Homs…city under siege
by abdulrahman-romano

In November 2012, Global Voices Online ran a post entitled Homs, A Revolutionary Syrian City in Ruins. The “siege” of the 14 neighborhoods in Homs is a special case – and is not similar to other Syrian cities. It is a reminder of the siege of Gaza. However, in Homs there are no secret tunnels to smuggle basic supplies, medical aid and injured and sick people. In Homs, a few thousand people are trapped in an area where there were 400,000 people residing. jeydt23 reported on Storify:

What is being called the Siege of Homs is arguably the most intense war zone in all of Syria at the moment. The siege has been going on for months with the death tolls on both sides of the conflict adding up daily. Below are pictures, tweets, and videos of the people striving to survive.

In old Homs, there is no agricultural land to grow vegetables and fruit, resulting in shortages in food supplies. This video shows children picking leaves and complaining about the lack of food:

There is also no hospital or medical center, [Al Amal Hospital was fully destroyed on April 1, 2012]. Instead, some [warning: link to graphic video showing an injured person undergoing an operation without anesthesia] makeshift hospitals rely on trainees to serve patients.

The government has also cut services such as electricity, water or communications in the besieged neighbourhoods. Instead, the survival of the inhabitants depends on water from wells, electricity generators and the use of satellite communications. There are no schools, universities or educational institutions. Instead, hundreds of children are living daily bombings and continuous daily shelling by mortar, rocket launchers, long-range missiles, tanks and warplane raids.

Syrian activists posted this video on the Facebook page of Break the siege of Homs on June 6, 2013, revealing the destruction of the city.

The blog Greater Syria posted a heart-breaking story under the title Yasin and Maryam Sabbagh…End the Siege on Homs, which describes the murder of a brother and sister (Yassin and Maryam) who were killed by a mortar bomb, fired by the regime’s forces in pro-regime districts, while playing outside their home. A video of their martyrdom with an emotional comment said:

A short while ago, a piece of news stabbed my heart hard and petrified my eyes in disbelief. [.....] Maryam and Yassin Sabbagh drawing what their life has been limited to: mortars, shelling, darkness, fear, and destruction; deprived from education, from schools, from having friends and neighbours to play with, from enjoying the blessings of life like world’s children, from food and sanitary water, from electricity, from everything..

Break the siege of Homs. Source Facebook page

On his Facebook page, Yazan Homsi calls upon Syrians to support the revolution and not let the martyrs down. He posted a letter written by an activist who reminded all Syrian activists of their pledge to protect the revolution until it achieves its goals:

عتب شهيد على كل متخاذل ….
تاريخ الكتابة 9-6-2013 حمص – المنطقة المحاصرة
تاريخ الشهادة 10-6-2013 حمص – المنطقة المحاصرة

A reproach from a martyr for everyone not living up to his duty…
Written Date 09/06/2013 Homs – the besieged area
Martyrdom Date 10/06/2013 Homs – the besieged area

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests

Written by Rami Alhames · comments (0)
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Independent human rights sources say there are over 30,000 arbitrarily imprisoned people [ar], many of whom were arrested in the massive, post-9/11 “war on terrorism”. The detainees were arrested without a warrant and have not had access to lawyers and a trial. Protests in Saudi Arabia are strictly prohibited and participants risk spending many months in prison if they get caught. This, however, did not stop prisoners’ relatives from challenging the ban many times in small numbers over the past two years.

At 4.55pm, local time, @almonaseron announced the beginning of the sit-in and tweeted [ar]:

بدأ #اعتصام_الحرية نساء في عدة مناطق في آن واحد فعلى أهالي المعتقلين الإنضمام إليهم فوراً

@almonaseron: The Sit-in for Freedom just started: women from different areas [are gathering] simultaneously. Detainees’ relatives should join them right now.

In Riyadh, a group of women, several of whom were relatives of Suliman al-Roushodi, head of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, gathered in front of the government-funded National Society for Human Rights, where they had protested back in February. One of the protesters was his daughter, Bahia al-Roushodi, who was given a suspended four-month prison sentence after that earlier sit-in. They were quickly surrounded by over 30 police cars [ar], and their driver was arrested[ar] and they were prohibited from leaving. One of Riyadh's main roads, King Fahad Road, was closed by police during rush hour to crackdown on the sit-in. At 6.20pm, one of the protesters, al-Roushodi's wife, tweeted:

تم اعتقالنا واعتقال اخي

@omamar1: They arrested us, and they arrested my brother.

Relatives of the arrested women protesters gathered in front of the prison where they were reportedly held. Photograph shared by @fatma_mesned on Twitter

At 11.44pm, relatives of the arrested women protesters gathered in front of the prison where they were reportedly held. al-Roushodi's granddaughter, Fatima al-Mesned tweeted:

الآن مجتمعون امام سجن الملز قسم النساء لمن اراد المطالبه بمعتصمات #الرياض انصروا من نصر أسرانا

@fatma_mesned: For those who want to demand [the release of] the protesters: We are now in front of al-Malez prison, the female section. Support those who supported our prisoners.

In Buraydah, women gathered in front of the city's Grand Court, and more than women joined the sit-in shortly. By 5.52pm, Saudi forces were surrounding the protesters [ar]. When a young man tried to provide water for the protesters, he was chased by the forces and arrested[ar]. Secret policemen wearing civilian cloths ordered the women to leave and threatened them, but they refused unless their relieves are released (video [ar]). The number of women protesters was increasing until they were forcefully arrested. At 8.24pm, @almonaseron tweeted:

الآن تم أركاب المعتصمات للباصات في بريدة بالقوة

@almonaseron: Women were just forced to ride the [police] buses.

The following day, June 11, at 5pm, a group of men and women gathered to protest the previous day's arrests. Within minutes, they were surrounded by emergency forces [ar], beaten [ar] and arrested.

Other small gathers were held in Mecca, Aljouf and Hial.

Written by Osama Khalid · comments (0)
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