Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2011 February 14

14 February 2011

Daily archive · 13 posts

Stories from 14 February 2011

Bahrain: The Day of Wrath

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · Middle East & North Africa

Protests took place in many places in Bahrain today, in what has been called Bahrain's Day of Wrath. Netizens gasped in horror as they saw how police forces dealt with peaceful protesters from the early morning, quickly exchanging links to horrible videos showing police atrocities on Twitter and other social networking sites.

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Indonesia: Attack on religious minorities

Written by Carolina Rumuat · East Asia

Ahmadiyah followers were attacked by a mob in Indonesia resulting in several deaths. Netizens are asking the government to protect religious minorities

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Bahrain: Snapshots from a Day of Protest and Injury

Written by Solana Larsen · Middle East & North Africa

Bahrain was rocked by violence today as the latest country to stage protests in the so-called Arab revolution time-table inspired by uprisings in Tunisa and Egypt. Police quashed demonstrations in various cities today, and both videos and photos of the crackdown are dodging internet censors, and making their way around the web.

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Russia: Blogger Detained for Spreading Bombing Rumors

Written by Masha Egupova · Eastern & Central Europe

Masha Egupova analyzes the cases of Ilya Korol, Far East blogger who got detained for a terroristic act rumor, and the new government initiatives that are aimed to monitor and control such "dangerous content."

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Bahrain: Police Quash Today's Protests (Videos)

Written by Solana Larsen · Middle East & North Africa

A series of 'illegal' protests took place in Bahrain today, February 14, as demonstrators marked a 'Day of Wrath' inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. Several videos from the protests have been shared on YouTube showing how demonstrations were quashed by force. One death has been confirmed, as well as many injuries.

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Colombia: Outrage after failed FARC hostage release

Written by Julián Ortega Martínez · Latin America

On December 8, 2010, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) announced they would release five hostages in an open letter to former senator Piedad Córdoba. However, things did not go as planned on Sunday: two hostages were not present at the coordinates provided by FARC. Many Colombian Twitter users expressed their outrage as a result.

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El Salvador: Citizen Reactions to disclosure of wages in the Legislative Assembly

Written by Omar Nieto · Translated by Jen Fumero · Latin America

The disclosure of Legislative Assembly employee wages, some a lot higher than expected, has sparked outrage among Salvadoran bloggers.

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Iran: Today's Protests in Videos

Written by Fred Petrossian · Middle East & North Africa

Despite a government ban, Iranians demonstrated in several cities today, including Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, and Rasht. The Iranian opposition had sought permission to demonstrate in solidarity with the Egyptian and Tunisian people but the Islamic regime ignored the request.

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Cuba: What do the Cables from Havana Say? (Part II)

Written by Elaine Díaz · Translated by Marco Veliz · North America, Latin America

Speculation about the health of the former President of Cuba, Fidel Castro Ruz, was one of the main issues discussed in various cables revealed by WikiLeaks. In this second part of a series, our author Elaine Díaz analyzes the content of the controversial diplomatic cables.

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Uganda: Press Freedom Diminishing as Elections Near

Written by Mark Jordahl · Sub-Saharan Africa

Observers and media activists see a steady decline in press freedom in Uganda, particularly with the 2011 elections approaching. It seems that the reductions in freedoms may also ripple out beyond the mainstream media outlets. According to AllVoices, Uganda's Assistant Inspector General of Police, Asan Kasingye, has announced that the police will be monitoring social media such as blogs, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter during the elections.

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Updates from 14 February 2011

India

Himanshu Rai advocates for more awareness of the complexity of the problem in the Indian education system. The blogger opines that “the education model needs to be transformed from teacher-centric to a learning-centric.”

• Rezwan

Pakistan

In Pakistan there is a growing opposition against Valentine's Day celebrations on religious and cultural grounds. But Pakistani blogger Adil Najam asks: “since when is mohabbat (love) not part of our saqafat (culture)?”

• Rezwan

Venezuela

Alejandro Tarre in Caracas Chronicles writes about February 14th 1936: “In my view, February 14th 1936 was the initial spark that marked a process of democratization without precedent in our history. Democracy might not have “flowered” that day, but it did begin to gain ground against an authoritarian inheritance of many centuries.”

• Silvia Viñas

Colombia

Bloggings by boz reports: “Colombian President Santos told FT there is a ‘real proposal… quite advanced' for a rail link connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through Colombia, serving as a “dry canal” to rival Panama's.” He adds: “For Colombia, it's a fantastic opportunity that comes only because it has managed security gains over the past decade that allow it to hold and protect infrastructure in that border region near Panama”

• Silvia Viñas

Panama

Periodismo Ciudadano [es] describes Mapa Transparente [es], a crowdsourcing initiative in Panama which allows users to track corruption, theft, homicides, sexual assaults, kidnappings and other forms of crime on a map.

• Silvia Viñas

Senegal

Peace Corps/Senegal is partnering with Books for Africa to bring textbooks and reading materials to schools and community libraries throughout the country. Volunteers in about 35 communities are working with teachers and village leaders to open libraries and reading spaces…”

• Ndesanjo Macha

Egypt

Read text messages from Zimbabweans who are celebrating with the Egyptian people for removing a dictator from power.

• Ndesanjo Macha

Rwanda

Africa’s newest stock exchange is the Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE), launched on 31 Jan to start trading the shares of brewer Brasseries et Limonaderies du Rwanda BRALIRWA (www.bralirwa.com). The exchange replaces the Rwanda-Over-The-Counter (OTC) market which has operated since 31 Jan 2008.

• Ndesanjo Macha

Ghana

The Witches of Gambaga premiers in Accra, Ghana: “Tomorrow the 15th of February at 10 am Yaba Badoe‘s documentary film premiers at the British Council in downtown Accra. The film, the Witches of Gambaga, shows us the destiny of women arriving at the notorious camp for witches that has been established in the north of Ghana, sent by relatives who believe they are witches.”

• Ndesanjo Macha

Bahamas

“I would love to see a non-violent uprising for human rights…sparked by blog writers and fed and sustained till victory by the power of the internet. As we have seen it is entirely possible”: Womanish Words would like to see Cuba follow in Egypt's footsteps.

• Janine Mendes-Franco