By Onnik Krikorian

With a little over a week to go before the second anniversary of the short war fought between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway territory of South Ossetia, Evolutsia turns its attention to another one of the country's two frozen conflicts, Abkhazia. With both recognized as independent by Russia since the 2008 war, the blog comments on recent reports of renewed inter-ethnic violence while also adding that Russia's increasing influence in the otherwise unrecognized republic is not as well received as many might have thought.

While most Abkhazians, and certainly those in the political class, understand that Russia’s assistance was and remains crucial to their separation from Georgia, there is also a growing feeling that their arrangement with the Kremlin may have a Faustian feel to it.

[…]

[…] with Russians in control of their budget, their borders, and primary transportation links, there is sure to be a substantial well of resentment among average Abkhazians about the veracity of their supposed ‘independence’ and the impunity by which Russians have assumed the commanding heights in Abkhazian economic and political affairs.

Such a sense of resentment, combined with more prosaic disagreements—such as dividing money—can be a recipe for combustion. Heated attitudes and disagreements may have led to the violence, which may be headed towards something more significant unless the Abkhazian, or Russian, authorities can keep things under better control. […]

With outbreaks of violence common, especially on the contact line between Armenia and Azerbaijan as attempts to broker a lasting peace in the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh continue to falter, some analysts believe that the three regional conflicts are not entirely “frozen.”

Nevertheless, the term continues to one most used in connection with Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh, with a tweet sent out from the account of the Georgian blog, Dream for our Brotherhood, saying this also equates to “frozen happiness.”

The blog also comments on a video report [GE/RU/EN] summing up a variety of thoughts from citizens on the two frozen conflicts in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The opinions regarding the ways of how to settle the territorial conflicts are sharply divided inside the Georgian society.

This post is part of Global Voices Caucasus Conflict Voices special coverage.

By Tomomi Sasaki

Richard Smart at the Tokyo Digital Journalism blog posted a summarized list of Wikileaks’ Japan data on Afghanistan. Raw data can be found on his blog.

By Ayesha Saldanha

The Hamas government's Interior Minister, Fathi Hammad, earlier this week announced that he was considering expanding Gaza's military force, initially with volunteers and eventually with conscripts. The existing paid security force numbers approximately 20,000. Bloggers in Gaza have reacted with astonishment to the idea of conscription.

Palestinian youths by Rusty Stewart, under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence

Seeran Nofal writes:

الخبر الذي شاعَ صيته في الشارع الغزّي والذي يتضمن فرض قانون التجنيد الإختياري ومن ثمَّ الإجباري على المواطنين الغزّيين ،هذا القرار الذي صدر من وزير الداخلية في الحكومة المقالة “فتحي حمّاد” ، إذ أنّ هذا الوزير قد صرّح بأن هذا “التجميد” ، أقصد التجنيد ما هو إلا وسيلة لزيادة الدفاع عن فلسطين ولزيادة قوة “الجيش الفلسطيني” في التصدي للإحتلال.
عندما قرأت الخبر على الوكالات الإخبارية المحلية راودني شعور بالإستغراب من جهة وشعورُ برغبة جامحة بالضحك من جهة أخرى ، فقرار مثل هذا الذي يتحدث عنه وزير الداخلية ليس بالقرار المنطقي ، بنظري هو قرار “رومنطيقي” نابع عن سيطرة الأحلام والمشاعر على متخذ القرار ، فهو يظن أنه دولة مستقلة خالية من المشاكل والحروب ،ولديه إستقلال تام ولديه سلطته الباهرة التي تخوله لفرض قانون لا يصلح لا لزمان ولا لمكان ولا تتوفر فيه الظروف التي تؤدي إلى تطبيقه. The news that has spread quickly in the Gaza street concerns the introduction of voluntary military recruitment then conscription for Gaza's citizens. The [possibility of such a] decree was announced by the Ministry of the Interior in the de facto government, Fathi Hammad. The minister declared that this “consolidation”, I mean conscription, is simply a way of increasing the defence of Palestine and increasing the strength of the “Palestinian Army” in holding the occupation at bay.
When I read the news from the local news agencies I was struck by feelings of astonishment on the one hand, and by the overwhelming desire to laugh on the other. Decrees like the one the Minister of the Interior is talking about is not a logical one; in my opinion it's a “romantic” decision stemming from the control that dreams and emotions have over the lawmaker; he thinks this is an independent state free of problems and wars, that it has complete independence and dazzling authority which gives him the power to impose laws that are not appropriate to either the time or place and that do not meet any of the conditions for them to be carried out.

She concludes:

أنا لستُ أتهجم على متخذ القرار ،إنما أحاول أن أكون “منطقية” يسيطر عليّ عقلي وأحاول أن أرمي “رومنطقيتي” أدراج الرياح ، فالتجنيد الإجباري الذي من المتحمل أن يتم تطبيقه سَيُولد تداعيات كثيرة أهمها ترسيخ الإنقسام ، بالإضافة إلى أن الشعب الغزاوي على ما أعتقد لم ولن يتقبل هذا الأمر بصدر رحب إذ يكفيه ما هو فيه من شقاء وغصة عيش.
هذا القرار ذكُرني بالدولة العثمانية حينَ كانت في أوج قوتها وحين كانت لها سيادتها في إتخاذ القرار وحين كانت لها سطلة كاملة على كافة الدول تقريبا فكانت تفرض التجنيد الإجباري ، أونحن أصبحنا “دولة عُثمانية” كي يتم إصدار مثل هذا القرار؟ أونحن نتمتع بقوة وسيادة كافية؟ ألسنا نخضع لمتحلٍ قادرٍ على أن يسحق المجندين كما فعلت في الحرب الماضية؟ I am not attacking the lawmaker; I am trying to let “logic” dominate my thinking, and I am trying to let “romanticism” go the way of the winds. The conscription that is likely to be introduced will produce many repercussions, the main one being that division will take root. In addition, I believe that the Gazan people did not and will not welcome this decision with open arms, for they already have enough suffering and agony. The decree reminds me of the Ottoman state when it was at the peak of its strength, when it had the sovereign power to issue decrees, when it had complete dominance over nearly all countries, and when it imposed military conscription. Have we become an Ottoman state, that we issue this kind of decree? Do we enjoy absolute power and supremacy? Aren't we subject to a powerful occupier which pulverises soldiers, as happened in the last war?

Blogger Kalam writes:

أكبر شرف للإنسان أن يثبت في ساحات الوغى وأن يكون ذو دور فاعل وبناء في الدفاع عن وطنه على أن يكون ذلك بوعي وتلائم مع الواقع.
أخيرا صار النا جيش يا جماعة وعنا تجنيد اجباري، وعلشان ما نتفاجأ راح نبدأ بالتجنيد الاختياري، كلام جميل وحلو وتطرب له الآذان ولكن دعونا نفكر في الدواعي والأسباب لذلك: The greatest honour for a person is to prove in the battlefield that he can take an active and constructive role in defending his country provided that this is done consciously and that it matches reality.
At last, friends, we have an army and we have military conscription. And so that we are not surprised, we will start with voluntary recruitment – nice, sweet words that delight the ears. But let us think about the causes and reasons for [introducing conscription]:

Kalam then gives a list of questions regarding the purpose of conscription:

1. هل نحن بحاجة فعلا لأن ندرب كل أفراد الشعب على الأسلحة والقتال؟
2. هل الاجتياحات الاسرائيلية مقطعة بعض هالأيام؟ وهل هناك صواريخ تطلق من الضفة أو غزة؟
3. إن كنا سنوافق على دولة في حدود 67 فلماذا اذن نستعد للحرب ولمن؟
4. ان كنا مأمورين بالإعداد “وأعدوا لهم ما استطعتم من قوة ومن رباط الخيل ترهبون به عدو الله وعدوكم” صدق الله العظيم، فهل هذا المقصود بذلك؟
5. هل ما يقال هو عبارة عن جعجعة اعلامية فقط ونشاط استعراضي؟
6. ما هي الخطة الوطنية التي سيتم على أساسها التدريب؟
7. ألا يكفي الشباب المنخرط في أجهزة السلطة – القديمة والجديدة- أو في التنظيمات الفلسطينية -الكثيرة جدا جدا جدا- لمواجهة العدو وبالتالي نحتاج لتجييش الشعب كله؟
8. هل أصبحنا دولة مستقلة فعلا وأصبح لدينا جيش نظامي؟
9. هل ستقبل اسرائيل بمثل هذه الخطوة؟ 1. Do we really need to train all of members of society in handling weapons and killing?
2. Are Israeli incursions intermittent these days? Are there rockets being fired from the West Bank or Gaza?
3. If we were to agree to a state within the 1967 borders then why prepare for war and with whom?
4. If we were instructed to prepare, and “prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy” [Surat Al-Anfal], is this what was intended?
5. Is what has been said a kind of bravado for media consumption, just for show?
6. What is the national strategy on which the training will be based?
7. Aren't all the young people who are engaged in the apparatus of the Authority (the old or the new), or in the (very, very, very many) Palestinian factions facing the enemy, enough? Do we therefore need to militarise our entire people?
8. Have we become an independent state, and have we come to have a regular army?
9. Will Israel accept such a step?

He continues:

10. ماذا سيحدث لو قصفت اسرئايل عدة مواقع للتدريب هل سنتراجع عن المشروع؟
11. من اين سنوفر المعدات والرصاص اللازم للتدريب ونحن في حصار خانق؟
12. من اين سندفع مكافآت المجندين والحكومة تعاني من ازمة مالية خانقة؟
13. هل سيذهب الشباب للتطوع في “الجيش” حبا في الوطن ودفاعا عنه أم بحثا عن فرصة عمل مرتقبة؟
14. هل تكفي مدة 3-9 شهور لتخرج لنا مجندا قادرا على التعامل مع الأسلحة؟
في المقابل أعتقد أن هذه الخطوة من شأنها أن تساهم في حل مشكلة البطالة فبدلا من “أن يسند الشباب الحيطان” سيجدون مكانا يفرغون فيه مسدساتهم وطاقاتهم. 10. What would happen if Israel bombed a number of training locations; would we abandon the project?
11. How will we provide the equipment and bullets necessary for training while we are under a stifling blockade?
12. How will we pay the wages of recruits while the government is suffering from a severe financial crisis?
13. Will young men volunteer in the “army” out of love for the nation and to defend it, or because of an opportunity for future work?
14. Are three to nine months sufficient to turn out a soldier for us who is able to handle weapons?

On the other hand, I think that this step could contribute to solving the problem of unemployment; instead of young men “holding up walls”, they would find a place to unload their energy, and their guns.

Kalam concludes with a reminder:

نحن تحت احتلال …………….. تحت احتلال ……………………… تحت احتلال We are under occupation ……………………… under occupation ……………………… under occupation

By Mong Palatino

Thuy Vu of Vietnam Reporting Project visited the Danang Airbase where Agent Orange was stored. Agent Orange is the highly toxic herbicide used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War

By Rezwan

Raza Rumi at Pak Tea House analyzes the disclosure of Wikileaks documents on Afghan war and opines that the civil-military leadership of Pakistan should take corrective actions against the extremists within Pakistan.

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

The Greater Surbiton writes that “the ICJ’s ruling on Kosovo sets a precedent that is dangerous only for tyrants and ethnic cleansers.” (More views are here and here.)

By Veronica Khokhlova

Belgraded writes about the planned revival of “the one big regional lottery” in the former Yugoslavia and does not “miss the opportunity to point out just how stupid nationalism is.”

By Hamid Tehrani

Earlier this week Global Voices launched a liveblog of global reactions to Wikileaks Afghanistan war logs. Now let's take a look at what Afghan bloggers have been writing on this story.

Among the 50 Dari-writing Afghan bloggers in my blogroll (one of two official languages in Afghanistan) I've seen very little commentary on the Wikileaks story. If you have links to Dari or Pashtun Afghan blogs we should read or translate from please add the link below or contact us to volunteer to write for Global Voices.

In the meantime, here are two reactions from Afghan bloggers who did write:

Syed Akramoldin Taheri, writing the blog Isteqlal (meaning ‘independence') has chosen as the title for his post “Wikileaks reveals all roads end in Pakistan”. He says [fa]:

One of the main issues revealed in these 90,000 pages of documents is the clear support of Pakistan for the Taliban. According to these documents Pakistan has very close ties with the Taliban and supports extremist groups such as Jalaluddin Haqqani's. The leaked documents mention that Pakistan's intelligence service provided 1000 motorcycles for Haqqani's group in April 2007. The report also talks about Iran's support for the Taliban and the death of civilians that were not reported.

The blogger concludes that while the United States was angry to see the documents leaked, they show that Afghanistan's neighbors are intervening in internal politics and that actions could be taken to stop them.

Writing in his blog Tabarghanak, Mahmoud Hakimi of the Afghanistan Journal, writes “Finally everything is revealed” [fa]. The blogger says:

The 90,000 pages of leaked reports that show Pakistan's support for the Taliban, the murder of civilians, and conspiracies to kill Afghan leaders, is probably one of the most unique security/political events in recent history. It seems that beyond the political and military theater in Afghanistan, other scenarios have been written… Afghan people have struggled with such scenarios for the last three decades, and the outcome has been the death and homelessness of millions of people.

Update: By email, Nasim Fekrat, the journalist and blogger behind AfghanLord, says in response to a question about why Afghan bloggers have been silent:

All the stuff on Wikileaks is such an overt issue here [in Afghanistan] and people are dealing with it every day. They know what is happening on the ground. It does not seem like covert intelligence gathering for them as it does for the West. It doesn't make sense to them.

By Onnik Krikorian

The Tbilisi Blues comments on the latest gaffe by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili when he called his prime minister a term considered politically incorrect in the West. The blog says that it is surprised at how many people have reacted to the remarks so strongly given that even losing a war didn't force the often wildcard leader to resign. It also criticizes Saakashvili's plans to militarize the population in case of what it sees as another personal squabble with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

By Onnik Krikorian

This is cinemelo comments on Border, a 2009 film from director Harutyun Khachatryan. Ostensibly a tale of life in rural Armenia, the blog says that the most telling images come from barbed wire fences which illustrate the filmmaker's connection with his country and his hatred of the war and closed border with neighboring Azerbaijan.

By Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped comments on news that a contract officer in the Armenian army has been reported dead. With mistreatment in the military common and of concern to human rights groups, the blog does not appear to believe the official story that Artak Nazaryan committed suicide and directs readers to a Facebook page set up demanding a proper investigation into the incident.

By Rezwan

“The Bollywood movie, ‘Tere Bin Laden’ (Without You, Laden), has been banned in Pakistan because it caricatures Osama Bin Laden”, informs Sonya Rehman.

By John Kennedy

With an incident-free Invincible Spirit wrapping up today, don't miss this post from Sinologistical Violoncellist's Adam Cathcart looking at some of the dynamics in the relationship between China and North Korea.

By Onnik Krikorian

Ianyan says that food might represent the path to peace for cultures that place such significance in it. Referring to an Armenian bakery in the U.S.-Armenian Diaspora as well as responses to a recent guest entry on Armenian-Azerbaijani relations in the context of the still unresolved conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, the blog says that dining around a full table can bring people together and help them overcome their differences.

By Veronica Khokhlova

More commentary on the ICJ's opinion on Kosovo's independence - at A Fistful of Euros, Belgraded, Gray Falcon, and Jamestown Foundation Blog (a GV translation on the subject is here).

By Rezwan

Effendi at The Spittoon comments: “the Pakistan government has gone into damage control mode after the evidence of the ISI’s involvement in Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan was exposed and confirmed on WikiLeaks.”

By Rezwan

Effendi at The Spittoon comments: “the Pakistan government has gone into damage control mode after the evidence of the ISI’s involvement in Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan was exposed and confirmed on WikiLeaks.”

By Amira Al Hussaini

Ice Cold, from the Kirkuk Air Base in Iraq, tweets: “It's official… we're here in Irq another 4 more weeks… Nothing cam be finer than gettin' back to Carolina!!!”

By Solana Larsen

More than 90,000 classified U.S. military documents about the war in Afghanistan have been leaked. As an experiment, we are using Google Wave to live blog global blog and citizen media reactions to the “war logs” (#warlogs) made public today by Wikileaks, Der Spiegel, New York Times and The Guardian.

All Global Voices contributors have access to the live blog if they wish to share links. We recommend you use Google Chrome or a recent version of Firefox or Safari to view this page.

google.load("wave", "1"); google.setOnLoadCallback(function() { new google.wave.WavePanel({target: document.getElementById("waveframe")}).loadWave("googlewave.com!w+MAT02w21A");});

Simple instructions for how to use Google Wave as a live blog were found on ReadWriteWeb.