By John Kennedy

Sex workers and their supporters in south central China's Wuhan took to the streets with red umbrellas last Wednesday to collect signatures calling for the legalization of prostitution.

Among them was Hooligan Sparrow, who several years ago made a name for herself by posting nude pictures of herself online, and today runs a women's rights organization; her Twitter profile describes her as a “feminist, member of the prostitution movement and sex worker”. Just before noon on Sunday, Hooligan Sparrow reported on Twitter that she had been taken away by police.

On Friday, Hooligan Sparrow uploaded video of the petition action:

[link1]

[link2]

As well as photos and a blog post which have since been harmonized:

我不知道这算不算中国的NGO第一次上街倡议性工作者合法化，这对于我们工作组来说，是一个非常郑重的决定。

I don't know if this counts as the first time a Chinese NGO has taken to the street calling for the legalization of sex workers, but for our working group, it was a very solemn decision to do so.

以前我并不打算去要求合法，只希望姐妹的权益在目前的环境下，能够更大化地得到保护。

Previously, I had no intention of making demands for legalization, I had only hoped that under the current state of things, the rights and interests of our sisters would receive greater protection.

但今年疯狂的严打，让我绝望。每天打开新闻，看到全国铺天盖地的扫黄行动，看到镜头下，姐妹们低着头，捂着脸，被游行，被曝光，被社会残暴地扯到大庭光众之下羞辱，我就决定了，我不能再迟疑，不能再软弱，必须要有一种坚定的声音来反对他们这么做。

But the crackdowns this year have been insane and leave me feeling hopeless. Every day when you look at the news, you see sex being criminalized everywhere across the country; when they see the cameras, sisters will hang their heads our cover their faces as they get paraded around, exposed and publicly humiliated. So, I decided I could no longer hesitate or be wimpy about this, that there needs to be a forceful voice in opposition to people being treated like this.

是的，我提倡合法化，就在扫黄严打的风口浪尖上！

Yes, I'm pro-legalization, and this fight is against the persecution of sex!

几十年来，扫黄一直就是作秀，扫黄从来没有什么社会成果，从来都是今开打，明天开，东边打，西边开。除非是消灭人权，灭绝人性，否则，根本压制不住，人口比例失调，单身性压抑带来的强大社会需求。

For decades, these kinds of vice crackdowns have just been performance; cracking down on sexual vice has never seen any social change, it's always been a crackdown one day, another the next, crackdowns in the east followed by crackdowns in the west. Short of obliterating human rights, or humanity, this kind of suppression will never last. With the gender ratio out of proportion, sexual constraints on single [men] has created enormous social demand.

我们今天到了街头。

So today we took to the street.

许多人对我们的提倡不理解，一些路人表情怪异，这大概是他们第一次发现，有这么怪的事情，居然还有人提倡性工作合法化。一些中年的妇女，更是不理解，她们说，“合法？合法那社会不乱套了吗？”

所有的人，都对国家机器，国家机构的管理能力，没有信心，他们认为一合法，全国的女人都会去做妓女。

合法化纳入管理，可以控制从业的人数，审查从业者的年龄，根本不会是全国的女人都做妓女，而市场也有自我调控能力，当全国的女人都做妓女，性变得便宜了，做白领跟做性工作者工资同等时，女人们自然会有更偏向主流的选择。

Many people don't understand what it is we're advocating, and some passers-by gave us strange looks—this most likely being their first time to encounter people calling for, of all things, legalization of sex work—and feeling strange about it. Some middle-aged women were even less understanding, saying “legalize it? Wouldn't that turn society upside down?”

You see, nobody has confidence in the capability of state organs and authorities to keep order; the way they see it, if sex work were ever legalized, all the women across the country would go and become prostitutes.

Legalization, combined with management, would allow for control over the numbers and age of practitioners, and would never result in all women becoming prostitutes. Besides, the market self-regulates; if all women were to go and become prostitutes and sex became cheap as a result, such that the wages equaled that of a white collar worker, women would still naturally gravitate toward the more mainstream option.

合法，并不等于放纵，泛滥。只是让现在的行业，阳光化。

但她们的脑袋，从来都不关心社会问题，早就锈掉了，去跟她们讨论这些有意义吗？她只会考虑到，合法化了，她的老公，就会明目障胆去找小姐了，法律不能帮助她来管男人了。

Legal is not the same thing as unrestricted or unchecked. What it does mean is this current profession would be brought into the open.

But these women, for whom social problems have never been given much consideration and whose minds went rusty long ago, would engaging them in discussion be of any use? The only thing they're concerned with is, were it legalized, whether or not their husbands would start visiting prostitutes openly and flagrantly (the law being, after all, unable to help them control their men).

一个中年妇女，是我们坚定地支持者。她是街边卖报纸的阿姨，“你们这样有用吗？没有用的，社会已经坏掉了，当官的，就只知道自己捞钱，哪会管百姓死活？”

“你这样做不仅没有用，还会把自己累死！”

“你这样做，政府给你钱吗？政府感谢你吗？”

我只能笑。

但她很气愤。

“你是什么人，什么单位的？你是学生吗？”

One middle-aged woman, though, adamantly supported us. A roadside newspaper vendor, she asked, “is there any point in you doing this? It's useless, society is already messed up, and officials, all they know how to do is make money for themselves, why would they give a crap about us?”

“Not even just useless, you're gonna burn yourselves out if you keep going!”

“Will the government pay you for what you're doing? Would they even thank you?”

All I could do was laugh.

But she was really angry.

“Who are you, anyway? Who do you work for? Are you students?”

我告诉他，我是一个社会组织的负责人，我们做了五年了。我也告诉她，我并不指望立刻改变，中国确实存在官员腐败的问题，正因为如此，才需要民众出来监督，发出声音，那他们才会改变。一年没有变化，我们花五年来争取，五年不行就十年，十年不行，一百年，总会改变的。

她仍然绝望地断言，但她说，只可惜她不认识字，否则报纸不卖了，就跟我一起干了。

I told her that I'm a community organizer, that I've been at this for five years. I also told her that I don't expect immediate change, and the fact that officials are so corrupt is precisely the reason why citizens need to stand up and monitor them, make their voices heard, that only then will they change. A year from now, if nothing has changed, then we'll spend five years fighting; if five years doesn't change anything, then ten years, or a hundred years if necessary; things will change eventually.

At that, she suddenly went quiet, and then she said, it's too bad that she can't read, otherwise she'd quit selling newspapers and come join us in our fight.

我没有想到，一个没有文化的卖报的阿姨，面对社会问题，有如此大气的胆识。她比起在街边那些稀里糊涂，看着展版傻笑的，所谓受过高等教育的人，强了不知道多少倍。

有几个年轻人，支持我们的签名，他们认为，应该合法化，并提到台湾也有人在倡议合法。

还是需要拓展视野，中国百姓的生活太闭塞，信息太闭塞，她们根本不知道做为人，自己拥有的权益，和应该尊重别人的权利。
而今天，我上街倡议合法化，是在行使一个人群的表达权，话语权！

不管你支不支持，性工作者有权利发出自己的声音，表达自己的诉求。

请不要阻止我们，请给性工作者一个发声的空间。

I hadn't expected that an uneducated middle-aged newspaper vendor like herself would be so brave about tackling social issues. Compared to the knuckleheads standing around smiling stupidly as they read our posters, these so-called highly educated folk, she's a hundred times stronger.

A few youngsters signed our petition in support; in their view, it ought to be legalized, and some even pointed out that a similar campaign is now underway in Taiwan.

Still, a broader view is needed. Chinese people are too closed-off in their lives, too cut off from information, many don't even know what it means to be alive, never mind embrace their own rights and interests or respect the rights of others. My going to the street today to call for the legalization of sex work was merely me exercising my right to free speech and right to be heard!

Regardless of whether or not you support them, sex workers still have the right to make their voices heard and to express their own demands.

Please don't try and stop us. Instead, please try and give sex workers a place to speak up.

Sina blogger Li Gong touched on the subject of legalizing sex work in his lengthy July 18 post, ‘At present, China needs to be arresting corrupt officials, not prostitutes‘ in which he expands on a number of reasons why China today is ready for just such a move:

从历史上看;改朝换代大多是因与官员腐败有关。而无因卖淫嫖娼有关。最近从北京开始打击卖淫嫖娼行动，全国各地也开始了,从网民反映中看出支持度不是很高，网民好象是同情卖淫理解嫖娼居多，好多网民还是要求惩治腐败的。

本人认为;惩治腐败是政府目前的首要工作，[…] 基于目前社会现状，我认为打击卖淫嫖娼不是政府的要务，应修改现行法律，允许卖淫嫖娼合法化，具体理由是：（1）卖淫合法化可以使我国性服务行业由非法隐蔽转向合法公开，有利于政府加强对卖淫人员健康的管理，防止艾滋病以及其它性疾病的传播；（2）卖淫合法化可以改变我国性服务行业长期受公权力庇护而得以非法存在的现状，减少国家权力腐败；（3）卖淫合法化有助于重塑国家法律权威，不至于再出现“小姐”集体宣誓，公然挑逗国家法律的尴尬局面。

Historically, the reasons behind the majority of dynastic changes have been related to corruption, not prostitution. Recently, Beijing has launched a crackdown on prostitution, followed by crackdowns across the country. Judging from netizens' responses, the level of support for this is not high. It seems that the majority of netizens are sympathetic to prostitutes and those who procure their services, at the same time demanding that corruption be stamped out.

Personally, I feel that fighting corruption is a priority for the government at present. […] Based on the current social status quo, I feel that fighting prostitution and solicitation should not be a priority for the government, which should alter the existing laws and allow for the legalization of prostitution and solicitation. The reasons for this are: 1) Legalization of prostitution, allowing China's sex service industry to go from being illegal and underground to legal and in the open, would make it easier for the government to better manage prostitutes' health and prevent the spread of HIV and other STDs; 2) The legalization of prostitution would alter the status quo in which China's sex industry is allowed to exist illegally under the protection of authorities, thereby reducing state authority corruption; 3) The legalization of prostitution would help restore the authority of state laws, preventing a recurrence of “ladies” making collective oaths or other awkward situations which overtly challenge state laws.

By Diego Casaes

Altino Machado blogs on the tribe Awá-Guajá, a group of nomad indigenous who emerged from the heart of the Amazon forest to prove their existence [pt] and to demand that their land be protected from invasion. Survival International also reported on the story.

By Karlo Mikhail Mongaya

Photo from pictures.wayn.com

Metro Manila commuters of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) will be facing fare hikes as the Philippine government plans to abandon its mandate to subsidize public transportation because of rising operation and maintenance costs. The proposal has been at the receiving end of adverse public opinion.

The fare hike would mean waking up earlier for A Commuter's Life.

There are news now that there will be an increase in the MRT fare. That is bad news for those MRT passengers. On the other hand, it will be good news for bus operators. Moreover, that would also mean waking up or leaving house an hour earlier to give an allowance to traffic if the people could not afford the MRT fare anymore.

Tine mulls on the implications of the fare hike to regular wage earners.

Malaking bagay din kahit gawing 25pesos sya. Parang maliit pero malaki ang epekto nito sa budget nating lahat. Parang dodoble ang bayad sa MRT. At ang isang stored value card ko, apat na sakay na lang? Que horror!

Paano na ang mga minimum wage earner? Eh iyong mga mas mababa pa sa minimum wage ang natatanggap? Pag tinaasan nila, mag-bubus na lang ang mga tao at lalong magkakabuhol-buhol ang traffic. Mas lalong ma-lalate ang mga tao sa trabaho, sa eskwela…

It's already a big thing even if it's 25pesos. It looks small but this has a big effect on everyone's budget. It is as if the MRT fare is doubled. And a single store value card can pay for four rides only? Que horror!

What will happen to the minimum wage earner? How about those who earn less than the minimum wage? If they increase, people will just ride the bus and add to the winding traffic. People will become late more often for work, for school…

A Happy Munchkin!!! believes that the proposal is unreasonable and unfair.

where would the students get this additional expense? Of course, [from] their parents who basically gets more expenses including electricity, phone bills, water, food and even their own taxes. Second, million passengers ride LRT and MRT a day. If you were to ask me why I use LRT2 on my way to school? It is simply because riding a jeep instead of LRT is no longer applicable for me. I travel from Marikina to Pureza and I have a class at 7:30am, LRT would take me to school in 20mins whereas in the jeepney I would spend long hours of sitting and pollution intake (traffic is not yet included).

A student leader said that it is the government's responsibility to subsidize mass transit as a public service.

Ridon said that commuting expenses are included in the mounting cost of education in the country, aside from yearly tuition and other fee increases, expensive textbooks and board and lodging.

He also said that it is the government’s obligation to subsidize the LRT and the MRT, especially at a time when the country is facing continuing economic setbacks and costs of education that had more than doubled since the last decade.

A Radical's Nut points out that taxpayers are not only subsidizing actual transportations costs but also “guaranteed debt payments and profits of the transnational banks and big comprador firms that undertook the MRT project through Public-Private Partnership (PPP).”

Taxpayers are subsidizing the debts incurred by the private consortium that built the MRT – the Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC). Aside from guaranteeing debt payments, the national government also guaranteed a 15 percent return on investment per annum for MRTC under their 25-year build-lease-transfer (BLT) agreement in 1997 with the DOTC.

Thus the so-called “subsidies” go the Export-Import Bank of Japan, Sumitomo Bank, and other Japanese and Czech banks, as well as some local banks like the Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI). What made the deal more financially onerous is that the owners of these banks that provided a loan of US$462.5 million in 1998 and the private firms that constructed the MRT have the same owners.

Photo from Frances Elaine Belicario Trazo's facebook album

Meanwhile, the spokesperson of a youth organization said that the government's justification for the increase is short-sighted.

“Mass transportation has benefits that outweigh the primitive economics being cited by the DOTC. Not only does reduce the costs of commuting for many Filipinos, it also helps in lessening the number of other vehicles being used. This leads to a reduction in traffic jams, air pollution along major roads, and the total amount of fuel being used”.

The youth leader cited a study by the U.S-based Brookings Institution said public vehicles used half of the fuel required by cars, SUVs, and light trucks. The same study said that for every mile travelled, private vehicles produce 95% more carbon monoxide and 50% more carbon dioxide than private vehicles.

In another study, this time in Japan, it was calculated that rail systems consumed an equivalent of 6 kilo watts per hour (kwh) for every 100 kilometers (km), while buses consumed 19 kwh per 100 km, and cars consumed 68 kwh per 100 km.

By Felipe Cordero

On July 12, 2010, fourteen Mapuche indigenous detainees being held at jails in Concepción, Angol, Temuco and Valdivia, began a hunger strike to denounce the Chilean State’s treatment of Mapuche communities in southern Chile. The strike is aimed mainly at ending the use of Chile’s Anti-terrorism Law against Mapuche prisoners.

Yesterday, prisoners Carlos Muñoz Huenuman and Eduardo Painemil Peña also joined the strike at a jail in Lebu – a total of 31 Mapuche prisoners are now on strike. In a press release [es] at Pais Mapuche (Mapuche Nation) [es], Muñoz and Painemil said that:

Con esta medida extrema y justa, extendemos la resistencia llevada a cabo por los presos políticos Mapuche en los distintos penales chilenos, que busca denunciar las injusticias cometidas en contra de nuestro pueblo, las que se ven reflejadas en violentos allanamientos, donde sus víctimas son principalmente ancianos y niños; la utilización indiscriminada y arreglada de testigos protegidos incluyendo menores de edad; el excesivo tiempo de las investigaciones encabezadas por el Ministerio Público que sólo perpetúan la prisión preventiva y en definitiva, rechazar los montajes político-judiciales, sustentados por la aplicación de la Ley antiterrorista, que buscan encarcelar a luchadores sociales Mapuche que hacen frente a la guerra de exterminio que nos declaró el Estado chileno.

With this extreme and fair measure, we extend the resistance carried out by Mapuche political prisoners in different Chilean jails, which seeks to denounce the injustices committed against our people. [These injustices] are reflected in the violent raids, where the victims are mainly elders and children; in the indiscriminate and set-up use of protected witnesses [that] include underage children; [in] the excessive duration of the investigations carried out by the District Attorney’s Office [,] which only perpetuate preemptive custody[. Finally, we seek to] reject the politico-judicial set-ups, sustained by the application of the Anti-terrorism Law, which seek to jail Mapuche social fighters that confront the extermination war declared against us by the Chilean State.

Photo by Patricio Valenzuela, used under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license.

The Mapuche prisoners in the Angol jail issued a statement [es] in the Kilapan [es] website containing their demands:

a) Devolución inmediata del Territorio ancestral Mapuche.

b) Fin a la aplicación de la Ley Antiterrorista, a las justas demandas y movilizaciones sociales del Pueblo Nación Mapuche.

c) NO más montajes Políticos Judicial, bajo la utilización de Testigos Protegidos o sin Rostro.

d) Nulidad al juicio de Lorenzo Alex Curipan Levipan, comunidad Mapuche Rankilko.

e) Desmilitarización de las Comunidades Mapuche.

f) Basta de Persecución Política Judicial del Estado Chileno al Pueblo Nación Mapuche, no mas asesinatos.

g) NO más doble procesamientos de la Justicia Civil y Militar.

h) Libertad a todos los Prisioneros Políticos Mapuche.

i) La inhabilitación del fiscal anti-mapuche miguel Ángel Velazquez por su actitud inconstitucional, en los procesos judiciales, mafioso, torturador y racista.

a) Immediate return of Mapuche ancestral lands.
b) End of the application of the Anti-terrorism Law against the just demands and public demonstrations of the Mapuche Nation.
c) No more Politico-Judicial setups [based] on the use of protected or faceless witnesses.
d) Nullify the proceedings against Lorenzo Alex Curipan Levipan [of the] Rankilko Mapuche community.
e) Demilitarization of Mapuche Communities.
f) Enough of the Politico-Judicial persecutions of the Chilean State against the Mapuche People[/]Nation, no more murders.
g) NO more double trials in the Civil and Military judicial [systems].
h) Freedom to all Mapuche Political Prisioners.
i) Barring anti-Mapuche District Attorney Miguel Ángel Velazquez  for his unconstitutional attitude in judicial proceedings, mafioso, torturer and racist.

The demands of all prisoners participating in the hunger strike seem to coincide. Their respective statements differ mostly in the tone and all focus on the use by the State of Chile’s Anti-terror Law.

The Law

Chile’s Anti-Terror Law, a Pinochet-era decree widely used during the seventeen years of the Pinochet dictatorship, allows for the trials of civilians by military courts, as well as the presentation of “protected” witnesses whose testimonies are heard and recorded anonymously.

On Twitter, Montserrat Nicolas (@Curvaspoliticas) commented [es]:

chile no tiene por qué seguir con la ley antiterrorista. es aberrante y corresponde a 1 idea POLITICA. chile no es colombia ni EEUU.

chile doesn’t have a reason to continue with the anti-terror law. it’s aberrant and belongs to 1 POLITICAL idea. chile is not colombia nor the US.

Regarding the law, the blog Mira lo que pasa Chile [es] (Look What’s Happening Chile) republished [es] the opinion of José Aylwin, co-director of the human rights organization Observatorio Ciudadano [es]:

Esta legislación ha sido aplicada preferentemente y casi exclusivamente a personas vinculas a los movimientos okupas, anarquistas y a personas mapuches […E]s una paradoja que el Gobierno […] valore la liberación de los presos políticos en Cuba […] y no tenga el mismo criterio con quienes claramente pueden ser considerados como presos políticos, en el caso de los mapuches encarcelados por la ley antiterrorista.

This law has been applied preferably and almost exclusively to people linked to the squatters and anarchist movement, [as well as to] Mapuche persons […] It is a paradox that the Government […] welcomes the liberation of political prisoners in Cuba […] and does not have the same criterion with those who clearly could be considered political prisoners, as is the case with the Mapuche jailed by the Anti-terrorism Law.

Chile has been criticized by international organizations for its use of this law. In the report “Undue Process,” Human Rights Watch referred to the situation of the Mapuche in the following terms:

Apart from the due process problems presented by the use of the anti-terrorism law (such cases are heard in ordinary courts), Mapuche individuals accused of violence against the police are tried in military courts in proceedings that do not meet basic requirements of independence and impartiality. It is little wonder, then, that many Mapuche feel that Chile’s progressive new criminal justice system, in force since 2000 in the region most affected by the conflicts, bestows its benefits on everyone but them.

Earlier, on July 19, 2010, Mapuche activists appealed to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva over the law and what they see as the political persecution they face by the State.

Photo by Flick user antitezo, used under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license.

Blind and Deaf Mass Media

Although more than twenty Mapuche prisoners are now on hunger strike and despite the fact that they make up about a third of the total number of Mapuche persons on trial under the Anti-terrorist Law, mass media outlets have failed to give the story the importance it deserves.

On Twitter, Gonzalo Larenas (@GonzaloLarenas) reflected [es] on the insufficient media coverage of the story:

Esto es noticia y no se comenta, q pasa? 29 mapuche siguen en huelga de hambre en protesta por la Ley Antiterrorista http://bit.ly/cThwzp

This is news and it is not commented, what’s happening? 29 mapuche continue to be on hunger strike in protest to the Anti-terrorism Law http://bit.ly/cThwzp

So far, only regional authorities, namely the Governor of the Cautín Province, have commented on the ongoing strike. The Chilean government of Sebastián Piñera has not yet made public statements about the situation of the 31 Mapuche detainees.

Protests are scheduled to take place on August 2, 2010 in Concepción, Valdivia and Santiago.

By Veronica Khokhlova

Sublime Oblivion interviews the author of A Good Treaty blog, continuing the Watching the Russia Watchers interview series that was launched by Andy Young of Siberian Light.

By Eleonora Pantò · Translated by Bernardo Parrella · View original post [it]

While the recent WikiLeaks experience [EN] reveals aspirations to build “information freedom zones” with some help from Iceland [EN], the Italian government seems to be heading in the opposite direction.

A Media and Wiretapping Bill [EN] that was under consideration by the Italian parliament for two years (harshly criticized by the United Nations) [all links in Italian from here] would have introduced a “gag rule” by restricting journalists from publishing wiretapping records during investigations, possibly in the public interest. Thanks to sustained protest by citizens and journalists, these restrictions were formally removed from the text of the bill on July 21. Yet somehow the new version still includes a small clause aimed at directly restricting online free speech,the so-called “blog-killing” provision (par. 29 of art. 1). As the group blog MAVAFFANCULP explains it:

Una norma introdotta riguarda infatti proprio il mondo del web e non si capisce cosa c'entri con le intercettazioni telefoniche. E' infatti fatto obbligo a qualsiasi blog e quindi a qualsiasi blogger di rettificare nello spazio di 48 ore una notizia o un articolo che possa contenere una informazione non corretta.

In sostanza, se la norma venisse approvata, tutti i blogger dovrebbero stare all'erta per pubblicare una eventuale rettifica che gli sia richiesta pena una multa di 12.500 euro. Non c'è verso di fare neppure una settimana di vacanza tranquilli! E' evidente che questo porterà molti siti a una scelta drastica. O si chiude o si smette di occuparci di argomenti su cui i potenti, e i loro agguerriti avvocati, sono particolarmente sensibili.

One of the proposed provisions is specifically aimed at the online world and it is not clear what this has to do with wiretaps. It would become mandatory for any blog to rectify within 48 hours any news or articles that might contain incorrect information.

Basically, if the law is approved like it is now, all bloggers are required to promptly fix any requested correction or be fined up to 12,500 Euros. No way that we can even take a short vacation! Obviously this will force many sites to make a drastic choice. Either to close down entirely or stop dealing with issues about which powerful people, and their aggressive lawyers, are particularly sensitive.

Once again, people are voicing their discontent on the Net and on the streets. The web-community Valigia Blu coordinated most of the activity in the last weeks, including a large rally scheduled for Thursday July 29 at 4pm, in Piazza Montecitorio, in downtown Rome, to mark the beginning of the final bill discussion on the Parliament floor.

No Gag Rule protest, Piazza Navona,
Rome, 1 July (CC BY-NC-SA)

In the meantime people are encouraged to sign a letter to MPs in order to “reopen the debate and par. 29 of art.1″: it has been signed by over 11,000 citizens so far, along with other 240,000 signatures gathered during the previous rally held in Rome on July 1st – see picture on the left, from the Valigia Blu photostream on Flickr.

Many self-produced videos are circulating on YouTube, including the following video by nikilnero.

Information is also spread via Twitter under the hashtag #nobavaglio:

- http://nobavaglio.adds.it has a petition against the Gag Rule, can you please help me get people to sign it?

- local Web-TV risks closure, this strict law is threatening the life of 350+ of them

- confusion reigns here, as in the most backward, forgotten, anonymous state…

The Facebook group No Legge Bavaglio has passed 6,500 members (reaching 11,000 if adding the website supporters) and continues to share updates and news stories:

- You can’t even stop for a minute here, not even the time for a coffee! (arianna)

Therefore it’s quite bizarre what's happening in the Parliament. Or maybe it isn’t, actually. The web has in fact decentralized the news production, with the result that the control on information created by citizens is getting weaker day by day. For some, this is evidently a problem. For all the others it is, indeed a success to be extended and improved.

Mainstream media also oppose the proposed regulation, explaining that anybody sharing content on the web (including radio and TV websites) would be subject to the same “correction requirement”. The website of the daily Il Fatto Quotidiano writes:

Tutte le web tv ed i video blogger italiani, in forza degli emanandi regolamenti, dovranno chiedere all’Agcom un’autorizzazione – o almeno indirizzarle una dichiarazione di inizio attività -, versare 3000 euro per il rimborso delle spese di istruttoria (quali?) e, soprattutto, finiranno assoggettati, tra gli altri al solito obbligo di rettifica, sempre entro 48 ore e sempre sotto la minaccia di una sanzione fino a 12 mila e 500 euro .

L’obiettivo dell’ultimo scellerato progetto di Palazzo sembra evidente: ora che il Cavaliere si accinge a sbarcare in Rete avendone forse, almeno, subodorato le enormi potenzialità, la vuole tutta per lui, per i suoi amici e per i soli suoi nemici che ha, comunque, la garanzia di poter controllare almeno in termini economici.

According to these forthcoming regulations, all Italian Web-TV and video-bloggers must file an application with the Communications Authority - or at least inform them of their official activity - pay 3,000 Euros for a potential investigation reimbursement (what kind?) and, above all, will be subject to the same correction requirement applied to mainstream media, always within 48 hours and at risk of a penalty up to 12,500 euros.

The objective of this now infamous bill by Berlusconi seems clear. Now that he is about to arrive on the Net, having perhaps sensed its enormous potential, he wants to keep it all to himself, his friends and the few enemies he can control in economic terms.

Other online comments address the negative consequences of this “gag rule” on e-commerce activities, as explained by Enrico Giubertoni on Buzzes:

È immorale poiché impedisce de facto ogni forma di critica, è antieconomico poiché impedirà di affermare un principio cardine del Social Media Marketing ovvero il giudizio su un prodotto. Se scriverò che il prodotto A non è bene mentre B è meglio, il produttore di A potrà obbligarmi a rettificare. Come faremo a fare InfoCommerce con l’Ammazza Blog?

It is immoral because it actually prevents any form of criticism, it is anti-economical since it reverses the basic principle of social media marketing, which is the user rating of a product. If I write that product A is not so good, while item B works better, the producer of A could force me to rectify that statement. How are we going to pursue InfoCommerce with this “blog-killing” provision?

Some specific amendments to repeal the “blog-killing” clause have already been announced, but the broader context reveals a new government crisis looming and an on-going intent to impose limitations on the democratic expression of citizens. However, in the Parliament everybody keeps mum. Nobody even seems to know how and why that tiny provision ended up in the wiretap bill.

In a blog post titled  “Il legislatore fantasma” (The Ghost Lawmaker), Massimo Melica says:

Ho provato in ogni stanza, corridoio, stanzino ministeriale…nessuno conosce o ricorda chi ha redatto il testo inserito nel “ddl intercettazioni”, nella parte che riguarda Internet.
Ho sfidato il Sig. Nessuno e nessuno ha accettato la mia sfida.
Quindi ci ritroveremo una norma (comma 29 art.1 ddl intercettazioni) pensata da Nessuno, voluta da Nessuno e scritta da Nessuno ma alla fine approvata dal Parlamento italiano.
Inutile gridare al complotto perchè non c’è, si tratta della burocrazia e della politica incapace di tener traccia dei suoi movimenti.

I've looked in every room, hallway, closet of the Ministry … nobody knows or remembers who wrote that provision about the internet included in the “wiretap bill”.
I challenged Mr. Nobody and nobody has met my challenge.
So we will have a law (par. 29 of art. 1) thought up by Nobody, wanted and drafted by Nobody, but finally approved by the Italian Parliament.
It's pointless arguing against a conspiracy that doesn't exist, perhaps at fault are just bureaucracy and politics unable to keep track of their own developments.

UPDATE (30 July): The Parliament eventually decided to post-pone the bill discussion to September.

The GVO Italian team contributed to the original post and its translation.

By Alexey Sidorenko

User berillii posts [RUS] a footage of the storming of the Khimki city administration [EN] by anarchists and antifascists that took side of the Khimki forest park defenders. LJ-user mmet supplies photos of the event. A peaceful meeting grew to a chaotic demonstration, after authorities once again detained [RUS] the environmentalists and journalists.

By Rezwan

They make your Tshirts. Image by Flickr User Niloy. CC BY

Ever wonder where were your T-shirts or pants made? If you are living in North America or in Western Europe, there is a high chance that you are wearing a cloth made in Bangladesh. And no wonder Bangladesh’s export earnings are mostly determined by the export of ready-made garments (RMG) which is about 75% of the total export earning of the country.

But in recent times the textile sector has seen some confrontation between the workers and their employers over wages related issues. Bangladesh's competitive advantage had been skilled workers and low wages but due to inflation the old minimum wages has become an absurd figure now. The garments factory owners associations have long been able to halt the talks of raising of minimum wages claiming that if wages are raised they will not be able to maintain competitiveness and lose market especially during the global recession. Their bargaining point was that because most of the workers do overtime they actually earn one and half to twice the amount of the minimum wages. But this has also increased the unhealthy practice of exploiting more labor hours from the workers.

Around 3 million labors work in approximately 5000 garments factories across the country and almost 80% of the workforce are women. Mahfuzur Rahman Manik provides a background on the minimum wages issue:

সর্বশেষ ২০০৬ সালে বর্তমান বেতন কাঠামো নির্ধারণ করা হয়। সর্বনিম্ন বেতন স্কেলের জন্য তখন মজুরি বোর্ডের সুপারিশ ২৩০০ টাকা থাকলেও মালিক পক্ষের চাপাচাপিতে নির্ধারণ করা হয় ১৬৬২ টাকা। বর্তমান মূল্য ও মুদ্রা; দুইয়ের স্ফীতির এই বাজারে একজন শ্রমিকের নিজের পক্ষেই শহরতলীর বস্তিতেও দিনযাপন করা অসম্ভব। তিন বছর পার হলেও সে বেতনের আর পরিবর্তন হয় নাই।

The last pay scale was fixed in 2006. The wages board recommended an wage of Tk. 2300 per month (US$ 33) but after the hard bargaining from the employers Tk. 1662 per month (US$23) was fixed as the minimum wage. Due the inflation of currency and prices it has become difficult for the workers to live with this pay even in the slums of the towns. After three long years no change was made to the minimum wages scale.

Less than a $ a day = not good enough! Image by Flickr user Social Alterations // Visual Lab. CC BY-NC-SA

Mohammad Golam Nabi advocates for the increase of wages:

বেতন বৃদ্ধির দাবীতে গার্মেন্টস ফ্যাক্টরিগুলোর উত্তাল হয়ে উঠার বিষয়টি বেশি করে শুরু হয়েছে ২০০৭ সালের শেষ ভাগে। [..]

আমাদের গার্মেন্টস শ্রমিকদের একদিনের বেতন ৫৫ টাকা থেকে শুরু। এই টাকায় খাবে, ঘর ভাড়া দেবে, সাবান কিনবে, গোসল করবে আমরা কি করে আশা করি। [..] প্রজনন স্বাস্থ্যের যত্নবিহীন এই নারীরা যে সন্তান জন্ম দেবে, সেই সন্তান এই দেশের আগামী প্রজন্ম মনে রাখুন।

The protests for raising wages started since the end of 2007. [..]

The wages of one day of any garments worker starts from Tk. 55. They will have to use this meager amount to pay their rents, meal, personal hygiene etc. [..] All these ladies will have to give birth to children without proper reproductive hygiene, these children will be the future generation - please beware.

Sharif Kafi writes that the reason for recent unrest in the garments industry is not because of wages issue but the exploitation of few of the employers:

এসব ঘটনা ঘটার মূল কারণ শ্রমিকদের অত্যন্ত কম বেতন দেয়া, গার্মেন্টস মালিক কর্তৃক বেতন বকেয়া রেখে পরে তা শোধ না করা, বকেয়া বেতন ও বকেয়া ওভার টাইম এবং বকেয়া ভাতাদি পরিশোধ না করে হঠাৎ করে ফ্যাক্টরি বন্ধ করে দেয়া এবং ঈদের আগে সময় মত বেতন-বোনাসের টাকা পরিশোধ না করা অথবা না করে ফ্যাক্টরী বন্ধ করে দেয়া। অথচ এক শ্রেনীর গামেন্টস মালিকরা এসব ঘটনাকে বিদেশী চক্রান্ত বলে সবার চোখে ধুলো দেয়ার চেষ্টা করছে।

The main reason for these unrest are underpaying the workers, defaulting on labor payments, shutting down the factory without paying their dues and not paying bonus during Eid festival. But a few garments factory owners are trying to fool people by blaming these incidents as politically motivated.

After long bargaining with the employers and the workers, the Government has finally decided to raise the minimum wages to Tk. 3000 per month ($44) which is approximately double of the current minimum wages. The wages structure will be formally announced tomorrow.

Arif Jebtik, blogger, writer and an entrepreneur provides a list of FAQs regarding the wages and garments industry from management's perspective. Some excerpts from his post at Sachalayatan:

* নতুন বেতন যদি নূন্যতম বেতন ৩০০০ টাকা করা হয়, তাহলে এই সেক্টরে কী সমস্যা দেখা দিতে পারে ? গার্মেন্ট শিল্প কি বন্ধ হয়ে যাবে ?

: নাহ, আদতে তেমন কোনো ক্ষতি হবে না। কারন তখন সব গার্মেন্টই বেতন বাড়াতে বাধ্য হবে, সুতরাং তারা মূল্যও বেশি দাবি করবে। বায়ারদের হাতে এই মুহুর্তে কোনো বিকল্প নেই, তাই তারা বেশি দামেই কাপড় কিনতে বাধ্য হবে। মনে রাখতে হবে আমরা যে কাপড় সেলাই করি, সেটি খুবই বেসিক এবং কম দামের, সুতরাং এই কাপড়ের চাহিদা দুনিয়াতে থাকবেই।

* নতুন বেতন বৃদ্ধিতে গার্মেন্টের লাভ কমে যাবে বলে অনেকেই ধারণা করছেন। গার্মেন্ট শিল্পগুলো কিভাবে চলবে তখন ?

: আসলে বেতন বৃদ্ধি আমাদের জন্য এক ধরনের আশীর্বাদ হিসেবে আসবে বলে আমার ধারণা। এখন গার্মেন্টগুলো বাধ্য হবে নতুন প্রযুক্তির প্রচলন করতে এবং বৈজ্ঞানিক পদ্ধতিতে উৎপাদন ব্যবস্থাপনা করতে। এটি এই শিল্পের জন্য ভালো হবে। প্রোডাকশন ইঞ্জিনিয়ারিং চালু হবে, দক্ষ শ্রমিক ও মিড লেভেল ব্যবস্থাপনা তৈরীর জন্য প্রশিক্ষনের ব্যবস্থা করতে হবে।

* If the minimum wages is increased to Tk. 3000, what problems will this sector face? Will many factories be closed?

: No I don't see the chance of incurring huge loss. Because every factory in the sector will have to increase wages, so the competitive prices will be at the same level. The buyers don't really have many options, so they will have to accept the increase in price. You have to keep in mind that the cloths we manufacture are very basic in nature and of low cost, so worldwide they will continue to have demand.

* People say that the profit of the garments companies will decrease causing them to shut down. How will they survive with the increased costs?

: I think the increase in wages will come as a blessing. The factories will have to embrace new technologies and deploy scientific production methods. this will be beneficial for the industry. The sectors like production engineering will be revitalized, skilled workers and mid level management will require more training.

By Aparna Ray

On the 20th of this month, 33 year old Amit Jethwa, a prominent environmentalist and Right to Information (RTI) activist was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen opposite the Gujarat High Court in Ahmedabad. His murder comes just a few days after he had filed a public interest litigation in the Gujarat High Court naming Bharatiya Janata Party member of parliament, Dinu Solanki as one of the parties involved in illegal mining activities in the protected Gir Forest (home to the last of the Asiatic Lions) areas in Junagadh, Gujarat.

In a country where till date there have been eight murders and 20 serious attacks on RTI activists in the last one year, Jethwa's killing once more drove home the dangers of standing up against the powerful corrupt.

Netizens have reacted with shock at this incident. There have been public statements posted condemning the killing in strong terms.  Twitter abounded with tweets expressing the sentiments of netizens, some of which have been captured below:

bittusahgal: My friend Amit Jethwa, whose life was dedicated to protecting Gujarat's wildernesses was shot dead 20 minutes ago. The world has gone mad.

ranjona: @bittusahgal it's really shocking. amit was working very hard and refusing to give in.

s_chowdhury: I mourn the death of Amit Jethwa, shot dead in front of the Guj HC. A lone fighter who took on mining mafia n tried to save the Gir lions

drrbalu : Another RTI Activist Amit Jethwa has been killed. Politicians and corrupt leaders have found a way to permanently silence RTI activists

KanishkaNarayan: Shocked and scared by Amit Jethwa's murder for filing PIL against illegal mining

Vinaymenon01: Very sad on the killing of one more rti activist. great gift the pm has given us. To see all the wrong and get killed trying to get it right

protectwildlife: Shocking ; Amit Jethwa fellow conservationist/activist member nathistory India shot dead. He was president Gir Youth Nature club

_bharath_k : Another RTI activist gets killed. The message -”Demanding accountability from bureaucrats and politicians! We know where you live.”

nutanthakurlko: We shall do whatever possible to get justice done in the murder case of Sri Amit Jethwa, the RTI activist and our associate in Gujarat.

TusharG: Satyendra Dube, Manjunath Shanmugham, Yogendra Pande, Satish Shetty, Navleen Kumar, Amit Jethwa……. Martyrs of modern India.

Madhusudan Katti wrote on his Reconciliation Ecology blog:

Bloody sad news from the conservation battle front in Gujarat, India: Amit Jethwa, a young wildlife activist whom I knew only through his occasional postings on Nathistory-India was shot dead right in front of the Gujarat High Court in Ahmedabad! He was there to take on the mining mafia threatening the last natural home of the Asiatic Lion at Gir National Park, which Amit had dedicated his young life to - now literally so! Wildlife conservation remains a dangerous business in India (as indeed elsewhere) - perhaps more so now than ever, and my (academic conservationist's) hats off to people like Amit who take on these real battles in the trenches despite the risks

Citizen Journalist Subhash Chandra, in an article in Merinews, wrote the following:

Immediate concrete steps are needed at the highest level to prevent such happenings and to ensure that law and order authorities protect people like him, who are fighting the rich and the mighty…It is an irony that criminals and corrupt ones enter our political system and get security, while whistle-blowers get threat to life from such notorious politicians or those patronised by such politicians.

As activists join ranks on the ground to push for justice for their slain colleagues, an online petition has been launched, addressed to the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers of all the Indian State,  drawing their attention to the dangers of RTI activism in the country. The petition points out:

The state, by passing the RTI Act, is allowing citizens to use information as a weapon. But it is falling short in bringing the real culprits to book or giving protection to the whistleblowers , undermining its own commitment to truth i.e. the government’s commitment on the protection of whistleblowers .

Hope the powers that be are listening and that we the citizens too are ready to give active support to these ‘lone warriors' - for as this tweet rightly points out

TusharG: @SinghGirishR Next time another Amit Jethwa fights our battles stand shoulder 2 shoulder with him only then change will happen.

Image by author

By Hamid Tehrani

More than 70 Iranian university graduates and academics are calling [fa] for the release of Hamed Saber, an Iranian photo-blogger and computer scientist who was arrested for unknown reasons on 21 June 2010 in Tehran while walking in the street. A friend has informed us that it was the first time Hamed was arrested. The same source said several of Hamed's photos of the Iranian protest movement have been published in foreign magazines without his knowledge.

Hamed is also the developer of “Access Flickr“, a Firefox internet browser extension that bypasses filters on the photo-sharing website Flickr in Iran, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China and other locations where it is banned. One of Hamed's friends posted a letter in a discussion forum on Flickr seeking support for Hamed:

As some of you might already know, it has been nearly a month since Hamed Saber our dear friend and artist and the founder of Iranian group on Flickr has been arrested for no apparent reason.

There has been no news of him except for two telephone calls from an anonymous place.

A group of his old friends, university class mates and professors from well-known universities around the world have issued a letter requesting Hamed’s release.

All of us know him for quite a long time, since our first days of membership in this group or maybe in trips we went together with him.
Many of us started photography in Flickr and specifically this group and even made life-long friends here. I myself feel indebted to him for finding many artist friends here and in this group.

Today he is imprisoned for no clear reason and this is an opportunity to show our friendship and appreciation.

I thought we could write a letter or statement and defend his position as an artist and an old friend and ask for his release.

I am not that good at writing, any comment or idea or any suggestions for a solidarity gesture by anyone of you can be of help, so drop a line in the comment my friends , we have to take action as soon as possible.

Hamed's friends on the “Free Hamed Saber” blog wrote [fa]:

Saber, the winner of a Bronze medal in an international science competition, had the possibility to emigrate but he preferred to stay in Iran and work for its “independence and economic progress.”

The statement calls on Iranian leaders to give Saber a fair trial.

By Luis Henrique

"I'm Condimenting Myself". CC By Steve Snodgrass

The Brazilian federal agency regulating health, Anvisa, recently ruled [pt] that the advertising of soft drinks and food rich in saturated or transfats, sugar and sodium will change. By the end of 2010, the industry will have to adapt.

Particularly one point from the new set of rules generated controversy in the media:

-  whether in tv, radio or in print, food advertising should include warnings [pt], similar to those presented in anti-smoking campaigns. Sugar-rich products would show, printed on the packaging, warnings that the product contains too much sugar and increases the risk of obesity and cavities if consumed in large amounts.

The industry's reaction was strong: editorials in newspapers questioned the agency's mandate to change a federal rule that regulates advertising. Many issues are involved, from the rights of governments to interfere in the private lives of citizens, to the cultural traits of people who are used to consume tastier, albeit unhealthy food. Also part of this debate is the role of government to promote nutritional education and, as argues the government, the citizen's need for clearer information about food ingredients and how food affects the human body in order to freely choose what to consume.

Reactions in the blogosphere were diverse.

Libertatum [pt] speaks of an attack on freedom of expression and freedom of property.

Matrice [pt] presents some background information:

A publicidade desse grupo de alimentos contribui para a atual epidemia de sobrepeso e obesidade em crianças, que vem ocorrendo no Brasil e no mundo, o que fez com que a Organização Mundial de Saúde aprovasse, em maio deste ano, uma recomendação [en] orientando os países membros das Nações Unidas a restringirem a publicidade de alimentos direcionada a crianças.

The advertising of this type of food contributes to the current overweight and obesity epidemic among children, which has been affecting Brazil and the world. This led the World Health Organization to approve, in May 2010, a recommendation to the member states of the United Nations to impose restrictions on food advertising focused on children.

Blog do Ronaldo [pt] questions the effectiveness of such a campaign against the products that are the target of Anvisa's new rule.

arinelli [pt] comments on the industry's early moves:

Quando a Anvisa começou a levantar o assunto diversos fabricantes de alimentos – como a Nestlé, por exemplo – começaram a manifestar, publicamente, uma nova postura acerca da publicidade infantil. Algumas empresas assinaram acordos de não-veiculação de propaganda de alimentos que fosse direcionada diretamente às crianças e prometeram uma maior cautela na divulgação de itens do universo infantil.

When Anvisa began raising concerns on this issue several food manufacturers - such as Nestlé - began to express publicly a new attitude towards advertising to children. Some companies have signed pledges commiting to refrain from broadcasting or publishing advertising aimed directly at children and promised greater caution when directing messages to the age group.

Leonardo Sakamoto [pt] presents the industry's point of view and tries to catch what lies underneath:

"People shouldn't be afraid of their governments…" CC by Carlo Nicora/Flickr.

Parte das empresas de publicidade e da indústria reclamam que toda essa movimentação é um atentado à liberdade de expressão. Mas, ao usar essa justificativa, o que elas acabam defendendo é o direito de ficar em silêncio para não se expor diante à sociedade. O problema é que essa omissão de informações acaba sendo um atentado contra a liberdade de escolha. Como é possível decidir se não há informação suficiente para isso nos rótulos dos produtos?

Some of the advertising agencies and the industry complain that this whole move poses an attack on freedom of expression. But by making this point, what they end up defending is their “right” to remain silent and avoid exposing themselves before society. The problem is that omitting information leads to an attack on the consumers' freedom of choice. How can one decide if there is not enough information for [freedom of choice] in the products' labels?

Radiomargarida [pt] makes a counterpoint to the industry's legal arguments:

Contudo, é importante que se diga que o setor regulado não está preocupado em garantir preceitos constitucionais ou defender a Carta Magna. Quer sim impedir a Anvisa de atuar no âmbito da regulamentação da atividade publicitária, seja ela relativa a qualquer produto ou serviço. Cervejas, remédios, alimentos. Não importa. O setor regulado não quer o Poder Executivo ousando imiscuir-se nesse assunto.

Nonetheless, it is important to say that the industry is not concerned with guaranteeing constitutional principles neither in defending the Constitution. What they want is to prevent Anvisa [pt] from making moves to regulate of advertising, no matter if it is related to a product or service. Beer, medicines, food. It doesn't matter which. The regulated sector does not want  Executive Power daring to interfere in this subject.

The Union's Advocate-General (AGU), legal defender of the Brazilian government's interests, manifested his opinion against Anvisa's resolution and recommended the suspension of its effects until it is further analyzed, in response to a consultation made by CONAR, the National Council for Advertising Self-Regulation. As a result, IDEC, a consumer rights advocacy institute, called on civil society groups to protest saying yes to the food advertising rule [pt]. These are the facts so far and the industry, the government and civil society are preparing their next moves. Do consumers, the citizens, have a say in this debate?

A complex game. CC by paulasofiasimoes/Flickr

This article was proofread by Janet Gunter.

By Debora Baldelli

Maria Frô talks about the new website FalaRua [Street Talking], dedicated to the street dwellers of Brazil. The online community offers information about the Project for Training and Strengthening of Street Dwellers and invites everyone to participate through a quick registration. [all links in Portuguese]

By I-fan Lin

On July 18th, Taiwanese farmers turned the grand boulevard in front of the Presidential Office into rice fields to protest against the Land Expropriation Act.

On June 9th, 20 excavators were sent to take over 28 hectares of rice field in Dapu Borough (大埔), a farming village, to make way for the expansion of Jhunan Science Park. Similar land expropriation stories were heard in other counties.

Some farmers and activists in Dapu pointed out that the land expropriation was illegal and filed an application with the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) to void permission for Miaoli County Government to take over farmland on July 17. At night, they protest in front of the Presidential Office, and residents who are facing a similar situation in Houlong Township (後龍), Miaoli County, Erlin Township (二林), Changhua County, Jhudong (竹東) Township and Jhubei (竹北) City in Hsinchu County and Tucheng City (土城), Taipei County joined in.

After the overnight sit-in, thousands of farmers and activists paved the Ketagalan Boulevard with rice shoots, turned the concrete ground into green field and presented to the public the beauty of agriculture.

The rice seedlings were shipped directly from the farm fields.

Photo courtesy of Edd Jhong.

The farmers started to pave the rice seedlings outside the Presidential building.

Photo courtesy of Edd Jhong.

The Ketagalan Boulevard was transformed into a green field.

Photo courtesy of Edd Jhong.

Ai-Wen Chen (陳藹文), a supporter who joined the overnight protest, explained why she joined the protest.

自從在網路上看到怪手開進農田強行「整地」的那一幕，我就開始擔心，會不會有一天，我家的地也這樣，可能爲了「開發」二字，我就必須獻出，不管我願不願意。這真的不是錢的問題，是我覺得我們應該被尊重。

When I saw the image of excavators rampaging in the rice fields, I started to worry that maybe someday my land will face the same threat. Maybe I will be asked to give up my land no matter I like it or not because of ‘development.’ This is not a matter of money. I think we deserve some respect.

我來到這兒參加守夜行動，夜宿凱達格蘭大道，這次的大會師才知道，原來，受害的不只是農民與農地，許多人的居住地、一些古蹟建築的所在地，都同樣被霸王硬 上弓，為了捷運、為了高鐵、為了科學園區、為了工業區…等「開發」的好理由，一個土地徵收條例，所有人都只能用抗爭來表達不願意。只能用抗爭來表達不願意，是我們尊嚴的二度喪失。

I joined the overnight protest and slept on the Ketagalan Boulevard. After talking to other protesters, I learned that not only these farmers’ rice fields, but also some people’s houses and historical buildings were forced to torn down because of the metro, high-speed rail, science parks, industrial parks, etc. Because of ‘development’ and the Land Expropriation Act, what we can do is coming here to protest. When we need to protest to show our objection, we lose our dignity again.

Are you curious about the fate of these rice seedlings?

這些秧苗被在場農民命名為「凱稻」已在行動結束後，被移到台灣各地農村播種，象徵農村生生不息。

These rice seedlings were named ‘Ke-rice’ (its pronunciation in Chinese is the same as the nickname of Ketagalan Boulevard) by the farmers. They were moved and planted in villages across the island to symbolize the never ending cycle of life in rural Taiwan.

By Nicholas Laughlin

Uncommon Sense argues that the recent release of Cuban dissidents was triggered by the death of activist Orlando Zapata Tamayo in early 2010, after a hunger strike. “Events of the past five months, culminating with the release of the 20 prisoners and the promised release of others, have proven that Zapata's death was not in vain.”

By Alexey Sidorenko

From 20 to 40 young people in white masks attacked the camp of the defenders of the Khimki forest park [RUS], Igor Podgorny [RUS] and Novaya Gazeta [RUS] reported. The police intervention didn't help – instead several environmentalists and journalists were detained.

By Silvia Viñas

Pilar Chato writes [es] for the blog Oye about the recent violent protests by banana plantation workers in Bocas del Toro that lasted nine days and, as she reports, left “700 detained, hundreds injured and various dead.” She goes on to say that protests against the government of Ricardo Martinelli have escalated: “the accusations of a civil dictatorship are not only coming from the opposition but also from social, environmental and human rights organizations.” She also explains what Law 30 is all about, a precursor for the protests in Bocas del Toro.

By Oiwan Lam

Many people have the impression that Hong Kong is a concrete forest made up with high rise buildings. However, actually 75% of the land in this global city is undeveloped country side. Such landscape is an unintended result of the colonial history, when after the WWII, the British government tried to sustain the water supply of the city by building a number of reservoirs in countryside.

The above slides show one of the 10 greatest sceneries in Hong Kong: the Tai Long Wan beach. The natural beach is located in the Sai Kung East Country Park and accessible only by walk. However, on July 16 a local newspapers, South China Morning Post, exposed that a large private residence was under construction in the upper Sai Wan Village directly behind the beach. The person behind the construction project is local businessman Simon Lo Lin-shing, chairman of Mongolia Energy Corporation.

In reaction to the news, concerned citizens immediately formed a group in facebook calling for action:

Sai Wan, Tai Long Wan, is the latest in a long sad list of destruction of Hong Kong's core assets. Enough is enough - We are “Friends of Tai Long Sai Wan”, let's make this the last stand in the battle for better planning of our beautiful city before it is too late.

In less than a week, more than 65,420 facebook users have joined in the group. On July 18, the members of the group organized a field trip to the beach, and inmediahk.net's contributing reporter eg9515 joined the team, interviewed the head of Sai Wan Village and reported on the situation:

據黎村長指，魯連城透過中間人，買下該幅農地及旁邊的七間丁屋，將會改建成私人花園，設施包括小型高爾夫球場、直升機坪及游泳池，中間人 更表示魯先生「一年頂多會在這裡十次。」

According to the head of the village Mr. Lai, Simon Lo bought the village farm land and 7 village houses for building a private campus. The facilities will include a small golf court, a helicopter port, a swimming pool. The middle person said that Mr Lo will go to the spot at most a dozen times a year.

Another villager said that old village houses would be torn down for luxurious housing. Below is a video taken by eg9519 showing the 100 thousand square feet construction site and the bulldozers at the ground level:

To everyone surprise, on 20 of July, a netizen from the facebook group discovered (via eg9515's report) that the construction is actually a archaeological site of an ancient lagoon. The government geographical information website (file number AM78-0214) states that the value of the Sai Wan archaeological site has been established in the 80s and in 2006, archaeologists dug out a large number of ancient pottery from the Neolithic Age in the Sai Wan upper village. Here is the government report and below is the screen capture of the government map indicating the location of the ancient lagoon and archaeological site:

Environment expert, C.Y Jim from HKU Geography Department, also joined in the conversation upon receiving an email from member of the facebook group calling for advice. Below is his opinion on the case:

(1) Even though the land is privately owned, it is meant for agricultural use. Any departure from this customary use has to be approved by the government. The quasi-statutory instrument to enforce the land use control is enshrined in the block crown lease (now block government lease) imposed on all farmlands in the New Territories shortly after British leasing of NT from the Qing government. The Lands Department is the government agency in charge of enforcing land use control.



(2) Building water ponds (for recreational or amenity purpose rather than aquaculture) and tennis courts are unrelated to agricultural use, hence they should be considered as illegal land uses.



(3) Building houses for domestic use that is directly related to agricultural production would need approval from the Lands Department. I understand that existing sheds could be rebuilt but subject to tight restrictions on floor area and height. I believe that the site does not contain existing sheds or other covered structures, hence the new owner has no existing right to build a house on it.



(4) The adjacent plot behind Tai Long Wan (TLW, the main beach) is covered by a Rural Outline Zoning Plan (ROZP) dated 2006. The farmland has been designated mainly as Conservation Area (CA), and a strip of land adjacent to the beach has been zoned Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The two existing villages, namely Ham Tin and Tai Long, have been zoned Village (V). It is obvious that the planning intention is to protect nature from unnecessary disturbance or incursion. TLSW, being contiguous to TLW, has a similar landform and land use history, plus a wonderful stream. The conservation worth of TLSW, for all intents and purposes, is equivalent to TLW. The fact that TLSW is not covered by a Development Permission Area (DPA) Plan or ROZP is due to negligence or oversight.



(5) Concerning seeking a court injunction to stop the work, I believe that the government has the power to stop it without going through the statutory injunction procedure. Whether the government is willing to do so is quite another matter. If the government refuses to act, I am afraid the community will have to step in and seek an injunction. The saddest thing is that the destructive work is still proceeding whilst the government is contemplating the possible actions.

In order to press the government to stop the project, netizens called for complaint email and phone call campaigns. Serveral government departments finally stepped in and gave warning to the construction. Today Mr. Lo told the mainstream media that he would suspend the construction. Since the incident has exposed the local planning loophole that would destroy nature landscape, local legislators and environmental groups continue to urge the govenment to amend law and demand any construction plan near the country park areas should have proper environmental evaluation and be approved by the environmental department.

By Alexey Sidorenko

"Why did they kill Yuri Volkov?" (a campaign banner, by Teh_nomad

The murder of a TV journalist and football fan Yuri Volkov in the centre of Moscow on July 10, 2010, became a widely discussed event in the Russian blogosphere. A complicated topic, dealing with hostile ethnic stereotypes, crime, police corruption and Russian subcultures, has generated nearly 7,000 comments, tweets and blog posts. Two mass street actions were held, gathering from 1,000 to 3,000 people mourning the victim and asking one question: “Why did they kill Yuri Volkov?”

The murder took place near Chistie Prudy metro station at 1 AM on July 10, 2010. According to the version [RUS] of Volkov's friends, a company of 9 friends were on their way back home when one of the offenders pushed one of them and provoked a quarrel. The fight was immediate and short. As a result, Volkov received deadly knife wounds and died. Three offenders - Akhmedpasha Aidayev, Bekhan Ibragimov and Magomed Suleimanov - were detained by the police within several minutes after the fight. The witnesses of the fight recognized them, the police found the knife as well as blood on the offenders' clothes. The official police version with its Soviet propaganda style mindlessly said [RUS] that it was just a drunken quarrel. It was not.

Volkov was an active fan of the “Spartak” football team [EN]. Football fans, and especially “Spartak” fans, are known for their excessive violence [RUS] and xenophobia [EN]. LJ user yermoloff described [RUS] them this way:

из всех клубов … именно спартаковских болельщиков провожают до метро. именно их держат в тройном оцеплении ментов. именно они мне, идущему в пиджаке с экзамена, разбивают лицо.

of all the football club fans, it's only “Spartak” fans who are being accompanied to the metro [by their peers - GV]. It's only them who are guarded by three circles of the police [during football matches]. It's them who smashed me in my face when I was coming back from an exam, dressed in a suit.

LJ user d2om, however, argued [RUS] that Yuri had been “a responsible and adequate fan.”

At the same time, football fans have a strong feeling of group solidarity and have vast online networks, some of which are hidden from the search engines. It was through the Internet fan forums that a few thousand people were mobilized to come to the streets in order to pay tribute to Volkov. The first and the second commemorations were well documented by bloggers (pictures and videos available here [RUS], here [RUS] and here [RUS]).

The organizers of the commemoration were very strict [RUS] about forbidding any political agenda of the action. The conventional media tried to call it a “meeting of the skinheads” (a common label given to football fans), although the pictures prove it's not quite true. “Skinheads” did indeed join the commemoration, but were not a significant part of it. The violent crime in the centre of Moscow touched both ultra-nationalists and people not interested in politics at all.

Commemoration of Yuri Volkov, photo by Evgeny Valyaev

An important detail about the offenders - who are all of the Chechen [EN] origin - put the topic into the framework of complex ethnic relations in Russia, and, specifically, the Russian-Chechen relations [EN]. LJ user varfolomeev wrote:

Если бы убийцами этого несчастного 23-летнего мальчика оказались не чеченцы, а представители какого-либо иного народа, шума и общественного возмущения было бы столько же? И также бы собирались сотни людей, чтобы почтить память жертвы, устраивались бы флешмобы, и авторитетные блогеры писали бы о зачатках гражданского общества, если бы убийцами были, скажем, такие же москвичи как и сам Волков ?

Would it be less of a stir and public outrage if the murderers of the 23-year-old boy weren't Chechens but representatives of some other nation? And would hundreds of people gather in order to mourn the victim, would they make flash mobs, and would popular bloggers write about the emergence of civil society if the murderers were the same Muscovites as Volkov?

Nationalist and neo-Nazi groups of bloggers were happy to join (and, eventually, lead) the discussion of the case, stressing the nationality of the offenders. During the mass commemoration actions, graffiti featuring xenophobic slogans (”Chechens are killing Russians,” “War in your home,” “A Russian killed by the Chechens”, “Moscow is a territory of war”) appeared on the walls of the nearby houses.

A lot of popular bloggers couldn't stay neutral in this story and followed the nationalistic discourse of the story. As LJ user voland-bride wrote:

Много топовых блоггеров среагировали на смерть Юры Волкова, много написали о том, что совсем беззащитным москвичам жить не дают, но никто не удосужился покапать по этому делу поглубже -ведь не все так просто. Вообще, смерть футбольного фаната от ножа “понаехавших” это штука, требующая серьезного журналистского расследования, а не догадок с примесью шовинизма.
За работу взялась пропагандистская машина националистов, а где работает машина, там, как известно, правды мало.

A lot of top bloggers reacted to Yura Volkov's death, wrote a lot about how it's hard to be a defenseless Muscovite, but no one made any effort to dig deeper into this case - because it's not that simple. In general, the death of a football fan by a knife of the “immigrants” is a thing that demands a serious journalistic investigation, but not guesses with admixture of chauvinism.
The propaganda machine of the nationalists had been launched, and where there's a machine, it's well-known that there's little truth.

Another aspect of the story - the corruption in the Russian police - was raised because two of the three offenders had been released from jail (allegedly due to a bribe given to the police). Some bloggers believed [RUS] such a mild measure had been chosen because of the pressure of the Chechen diaspora representatives on the investigation.

Evgeny Valyayev, press secretary of “Russkiy Obraz” (”The Russian Image”) ultra-right nationalist organization, posted [RUS] a screenshot from the Islam.ru forum, where an alleged sister of one of the offenders was trying to gather money for a bribe (250,000 roubles, or $8,200), to “free” her brother from the police (the identity of the author hasn't been verified).

Blogger stroev_sergey commented on both the corruption and nationalist trends of the discussion:

…ЛЮБАЯ диаспора может откупить, отмазать своего члена. Кроме русских. У которых нет диаспоры. Потому что русские всегда жили в симбиозе со своим государством и если это государство оказалось антирусским, то русские оказались людьми второго сорта, за которых НИКТО, НИКОГДА не заступится.

…ANY diaspora can buy out and protect its member. Except Russians. Who don't have a diaspora. Because Russians have always lived in a symbiosis with their government, and when the government turned out to be anti-Russian, Russians became second-class people, for whom NO ONE, NEVER will stand up.

Yuri's girlfriend (her name isn't disclosed) started [RUS] a LiveJournal blog, in fear that the police will soft-pedal the issue due to the pressure from the “diaspora” and the alleged bribes. Popular blogger teh_nomad started a silent flashmob offering people to repost the black picture with a question “Why did they kill Yura Volkov?” The same slogan appeared [RUS] during several football matches.

Yuri's girlfriend wrote:

Я сейчас сижу, пишу это, а мне страшно.
Страшно, потому что я девушка. Страшно, потому что на месте трагедии появлялись по нескольку раз какие-то непонятные личности, которые фотографировали людей и исчезали.
Страшно, потому что если что-то приключится со мной, то все так и увязнет в виде RIP'a на гостевухах.

I'm sitting here, writing this, but I'm scared. I'm scared because I'm a girl. I'm scared because at the place of the tragedy some strange people came, made pictures, and disappeared.
I'm scared because if something happens to me, everything will be just stuck with RIPs on the guest boards.

In the whole case the most underrepresented point of view was of ethnic Chechens. Ramzan Kadyrov, president of the Chechen Republic, posted [RUS] a generic post on the unacceptability of labeling whole nations for the crimes of individuals. Timur Aliev, Kadyrov's adviser, made an attempt to understand the incident:

[…] Один мой товарищ несколько лет назад рассказывал мне, что в Москве невозможно жить без ножа. Иначе легко стать жертвой гопников. Ночью на него напали четверо. Хотели то ли ограбить, то ли избить. Он достал нож и бросился на них. Они разбежались.
[…]
К чему это я пишу?
Я не борец, не боксер и не каратист. И лично мне очень не хотелось бы стать объектом избиения. Это, прежде всего, унизительно. Наверное, я бы предпринял все возможное, чтобы не стать этим самым “объектом”.

A friend of mine, a couple of years ago, told me that it was impossible to live in Moscow without a knife. Without it, it's very easy to become a victim of gopniks [aggressive young males]. On one night, he was attacked by four. They wanted either to beat him, or to rob him. He took out his knife and rushed towards them. They fled.
[…]
Why am I writing it?
I'm not a wrestler, not am I a boxer or a karate fighter. And, personally, I wouldn't want to be an object of a beating. This is, first of all, degrading. Probably, I would do my best not to become such an object.

The case of the murder of Yuri Volkov isn't the only one in the long list of the numerous ethnic crimes committed both by Russians and non-Russians in Moscow. It provoked, however, one of the most active reactions among Muscovites during the last couple of years. Among other things, it has highlighted a total lack of trust towards police and legal procedures of justice (with the evidence of two out of the three offenders having been released soon after the incident), and a high level of police corruption combined with the reluctance of the mainstream media to cover such a sensitive topic. The case has highlighted the mobilizing power of the football fans' online networks and the ease of embedding nationalistic narratives into such dramatic events.

By Nicholas Laughlin

The Central American and Caribbean Games are under way in Puerto Rico. Gil the Jenius criticises the organisers for “mismanagement” and “incompetence”, and reports on the controversial use of hidden cameras for surveillance of protesters by the police.

By Nicholas Laughlin

Vexed Bermoothes opposes the Bermuda government’s plan to take over the operations and services of the country’s municipalities, including those of the capital, Hamilton.