Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2012 January 27

27 January 2012

Daily archive · 8 posts

Stories from 27 January 2012

Guatemala: Former Dictator Efraín Rios Montt Questioned for Genocide

On January 26, a judge ruled that former de facto President Efraín Rios Montt will stand trial for genocide; the same day, Guatemala's Congress ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, giving Guatemalans hope that their search for transitional justice is moving in the right direction.

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Singapore: Corruption Scandal in Least Corrupt Nation

Written by Kirsten Han · East Asia

The heads of the Singapore Civil Defence Force and the Central Narcotics Bureau are being investigated by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau sparking plenty of conversation about corruption in a country that has been consistently ranked as one of the least corrupt in the world.

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China: Not Worried About Twitter's Decision to Self-Censor

Written by John Kennedy · East Asia

Twitter announced this week that, with an eye on global profits, it has decided to begin censoring content prohibited in the various markets in which the company has users. Although Twitter remains blocked in China, the site's Chinese-language users have responded to the news.

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Zambia: When Wikipedia Entry “Kills” a President

Written by Gershom Ndhlovu · Sub-Saharan Africa

On the morning of 22 January, Zambians woke up to a statement from State House rebuking news websites for spreading a rumour that President Michael Sata had been assassinated. However, it emerged later that the rumour stemmed from a Wikipedia entry about Michael Sata.

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Myanmar (Burma): Betwixt and Between

Written by Onnik Krikorian · East Asia

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Burmese Opposition Leader Aung San Suu Kyi this week addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, urging further support from the international community in Myanmar. Such engagement will be particularly important for refugees and internally displaced people.

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Taiwan: 2012 Election Sets Example for Mainland Chinese Democratization

Written by I-fan Lin · East Asia

On January 14, Taiwan held its presidential and legislative election. In the wake of the polls, netizens wonder if Taiwan can set an example for the future democratization in mainland China. I-fan Lin reports.

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Video Highlights: Music, Indigenous Initiatives, Indignation and Wonder

Written by Juliana Rincón Parra · Middle East & North Africa, East Asia

A selection of Global Voices' recent and interesting stories including video from Latin America, East Asia, Middle East and North Africa and Eastern and Central Europe, selected by Juliana Rincón Parra.

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Portugal: State Radio Silenced after Angola Opinion Piece

Written by Sara Moreira · Translated by Janet Gunter · Sub-Saharan Africa, Western Europe

A week after the broadcast of an opinion piece by the journalist Pedro Rosa Mendes on public radio, the end of the program was announced. The piece criticized the coverage of an event with several politicians and business men from Portugal and Angola. Bloggers immediately reacted to the "axing of freedom of expression".

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Updates from 27 January 2012

Slovakia

In response to the 25,000-euro “minimalist” website design of the Slovak National Gallery, zajtra.sk started its own competition [sk] for the website's re-design, offering 100 euro to the winner. Authors are mostly students, and they often declare how many hours - and, sometimes, minutes - they spent on their re-design.

• Tibor Blazko

Cuba

In the context of the country's upcoming papal visit, Angel Santiesteban writes: “What we Cubans have to achieve won’t come from anyone’s visit, nor from the ‘peace concert', although it had good intentions, nor from the ‘U.S. blockade.' It will come the day we demand what belongs to us by our own right.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad & Tobago

kid5rivers takes the Port of Spain mayor to task for his disagreement with a proposal to offer offer free utilities and transport to senior citizens, asking, tongue firmly in cheek: “Perhaps His Worship confused SCs who are worth their weight in silk with SCs who are waited upon because they wear silk?”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuba

Havana Times acknowledges the passing of “Cuban writer, playwright and theater director Humberto Arenal”, who passed away yesterday.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad & Tobago

Guanaguanare hopes that the story of Josiah Governor, the child who was beaten to death, will “motivate us to be more humane in the way we treat our children”, while TnT River blogs about Everton Vasquez, a minor who “hanged himself after receiving a beating from his grandmother.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica

Jamaica Salt considers “how Jamaican music superstars, Vybz Kartel and Mavado have taken their different paths”, suggesting: “Kartel [is] more real in a way but when it comes to survival in this life, he maybe has something to learn from the Gully God.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Brazil

Jimmy Greer, an activist and sustainability consultant for I-See Global based in London, writes about “the brutal eviction” of Pinheirinho, in Brazil as “another example of a skewed approach to governing that is at odds with an active, connected and changing society that demands more from its elected officials.”

• Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Brazil

Brazilian blogger Julio Carignano, from the blog Sítio Coletivo, interviewed [pt] a former indigenous Guarani chief, Teodoro Tupã, who criticizes the policies of progress and “developmentism” towards indigenous peoples - particularly on issues concerned with health and land.

• Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Brazil

Brazilian blogger Conceição Oliveira republished [pt] an e-mail sent by the Military Police of São Paulo trying to explain the actions on what became known as “Massacre of Pinheirinho“. The police complains of “misleading statements that have been spun by people not involved with the real democratic values”.

• Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Cote d'Ivoire

Reacting on an article about the spread of cybercrime in Côte d'Ivoire on abidjan.net , Moussa Delafontaine Coulibaly shares his own experience with cybercrime [fr]: “[I think] that these [cybercriminals] ought to be tracked down and persecuted. Because of them, my Paypal account has been blocked since last December and I do not dare to make any purchases online anymore. “

• Abdoulaye Bah