Africa

At least 417 people have now been declared dead in Mozambique a week after it was hit by a deadly storm.

The Watoto Children's Choir was set up to help some of the estimated two million orphans in Uganda.

Aerial photo of the vast freshwater resources in the Hudson Bay Lowlands, Ontario, Canada, October 2018. Credit: 2018 Human Rights Watch

By Editor Human Rights Watch
TORONTO, Mar 22 2019 (IPS-Partners)

World Water Day on March 22, 2019 is a reminder that many of Canada’s First Nations communities do not have safe drinking water, Chiefs of Ontario and Human Rights Watch said today.

The groups issued a draft guide on the human right to water for First Nations communities and advocates. This guide will be open for comment through September 6, and then finalized.

“Most Canadians have easy access to fresh water, but many First Nations communities in Canada face a daily struggle to get safe drinking water,” said Amanda Klasing, acting women’s rights co-director at Human Rights Watch. “We hope this guide will serve as an important tool for communities to help them achieve their right to a safe water supply.”

Human Rights Watch conducted research in First Nations communities in Ontario in 2015 and 2016, and found that the Canadian government had violated a range of international human rights obligations by failing to provide a safe water supply to First Nations reserves.

Since that time, the federal government has taken steps to increase transparency in situations in which First Nations communities have long been without a safe water supply and to work more closely with the communities to address the problems. The government recently announced new investments to support ongoing efforts to eliminate and prevent long-term drinking water advisories.

But as of February 4, there were 62 long-term drinking advisories throughout Canada. The Neskantaga First Nation in Northern Ontario, for example, has had a water boil advisory in place for the last 23 years.

The Chiefs of Ontario continue to apply pressure and influence governments to provide safe potable drinking water – which is a human right – for First Nations peoples, leading toward a sustainable future and one that is based on truth and reconciliation.

Despite some progress, the government has failed time and again to deliver on its promises for safe drinking water. In developing the guide, Human Rights Watch and Chiefs of Ontario seek to develop an additional tool for First Nations to build their advocacy for safe drinking water access. The guide provides an overview of the legal framework behind the human right to water and recommendations on how to engage government officials on the topic. The commentary period will be helpful in producing a final guide to address the needs of communities and advocates.

“We need to guide and inspire a process of truth and healing leading toward reconciliation between First Nations and Canada,” said Chief Shining Turtle, of Whitefish River First Nation and member of the Chiefs of Ontario Environment Committee. “Collaboration on a renewed relationship based on inclusion, respect, and mutual understanding is paramount. Let’s begin this important process first by protecting our sacred water, in the spirit of true partnership.”

It is often those who least contribute to water crises around the world who are most affected by the outcome, Human Rights Watch and the Ontario Chiefs said. World Water Day 2019 serves as a reminder that everyone all over the globe should have access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Canada has played an important role in promoting efforts to meet this goal globally. First Nations communities are on the front lines of demanding that Canada should meet this obligation at home as well.

“Water is life. It is recognized that women are the sacred keepers of the water and know that it’s a gift that connects all life,” said Ontario Regional Chief RoseAnne Archibald. “Water is significant to our way of life and livelihoods, and we recognize our inherent responsibilities as caretakers to protect water. Our responsibilities and our rights include all aspects to the use of water, jurisdiction and stewardship over use and access to water, and the protection of water.”

The post Canada: Pressing Need to Improve First Nations’ Water Supply appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

On World Water Day, New Guide to Water Rights

The post Canada: Pressing Need to Improve First Nations’ Water Supply appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A man walks down a street in central Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, on November 12, 2014. Prime TV, an independent station in Zambia, was recently suspended by the country's media regulator. Credit: Gianluigi Guercia/AFP

By Editor, CPJ
CAPE TOWN, Mar 22 2019 (IPS-Partners)

(CPJ) – Zambia’s minister of information and broadcasting should grant an appeal requested by the privately owned Prime TV broadcaster and allow the station back on air after the country’s media regulator suspended its license for 30 days for alleged unprofessionalism, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

The Independent Broadcasting Authority, the government agency that oversees the country’s media, suspended Prime TV’s license from March 4 to April 2 for allegedly featuring “unbalanced coverage, opinionated news, material likely to incite violence and use of derogatory language,” particularly in its reporting on recent by-elections in Shesheke district, according to a statement from the authority. Prime TV was ordered to conduct in-house trainings on media ethics during its suspension, according to the statement.

The authority’s ruling came in response to a complaint lodged by the ruling Patriotic Front party, according to the African press freedom group AFEX.

On March 5, Prime TV filed an appeal with Information and Broadcasting Minister Dora Siliya, the station’s director, Gerald Shawa, told CPJ. Shawa told CPJ on March 18 that he had not yet received a response to his request.

“The Independent Broadcasting Authority should not suspend news organizations simply because they report critically and disagree with the ruling political party,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal. “The minister of information and broadcasting must do the right thing and uphold Prime TV’s appeal so that it is able to broadcast immediately.”

The suspension came amid increased tensions between Prime TV and the Patriotic Front. The broadcaster’s offices were raided by police in November 2018, after it aired footage that authorities alleged was defamatory to the president, according to the Media Institute of Southern Africa, a regional press freedom group.

In late January, the party’s secretary-general, Davies Mwila, announced that Prime TV journalists were barred from covering any Patriotic Front activities, according to AFEX.

On February 13, the party’s deputy media director, Antonio Mwanza, said the broadcaster “must be closed down,” and said the Independent Broadcasting Authority had been “directed to revoke [Prime TV’s] license,” AFEX reported.

CPJ’s phone calls to the offices of Mwila and Mwanza, and emails to Mwila, did not receive a response.

In the appeal letter, seen by CPJ, Shawa asked the minister to reduce the penalty to a warning. Prime TV was previously reprimanded by authorities in April 2018, but was able to continue broadcasting, according to the Independent Broadcasting Authority statement.

CPJ’s phone calls to Siliya went unanswered. The Independent Broadcasting Authority’s director-general and board secretary, Josephine Mapoma, did not answer calls or respond to CPJ’s messages on Whatsapp.

Chando Kasolo, the Independent Broadcasting Authority board chair and permanent secretary for information and broadcasting services, told CPJ via WhatsApp, “the ban stays unless and until revoked by the minister [Siliya].”

He added that CPJ should “keep out of this as foreign ‘interference’ is not viewed kindly here.”

Kasolo was quoted by independent news website Zambia Reports as saying there was no political interference in the decision to suspend Prime TV, and that he would have resigned if that were the case.

According to the Independent Broadcasting Authority statement, the authority also suspended Valley FM Radio of Nyimba for 60 days for “unprofessional conduct” and revoked the licenses of two other radio broadcasters due to nonpayment of licensing fees. The authority also granted 22 new radio broadcast licenses on March 4, according to the statement.

Journalists have been jailed and harassed in Zambia over recent years, and numerous media organizations suspended by national authorities, according to CPJ’s reporting.

The post Zambia suspends independent TV broadcaster for 30 days appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Geneva Centre
GENEVA, Mar 22 2019 (IPS-Partners)

(Geneva Centre)– The rise of exclusionary politics and xenophobic discourses can only be addressed by embracing diversity and promoting empathy between people, it was concluded in a panel debate held yesterday at the United Nations Office in Geneva.

The meeting “Celebration of diversity: beyond tolerance the path towards empathy” was organized on the margins of the 40th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council by the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue and the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to UN Geneva. It was held on the occasion of the 2019 International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

In a message of support to the co-organizers of the debate, HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal’s appealed to Christians and Muslims to raise their collective voices in repulsion and condemnation of terrorist and violent extremist attacks like the ones witnessed in Christchurch, New Zealand. “Terrorism has no nationality and religion but is an aberration that can be stimulated by irresponsible political discourse thousands of miles away,” HRH Prince El Hassan said.

“The terrorists intended to spread fear and hatred. On the contrary, we are here today to send a message of peace, tolerance and human brotherhood,” the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates to UN Geneva, HE Obaid Salem Al Zaabi, added in his statement.

In this connection, the moderator of the debate, the Geneva Centre’s Executive Director Ambassador Idriss Jazairy, observed that the world is “witnessing a rise of exclusionary politics and a vociferous repetition of discourses of division.” “In such a context, diversity is being rejected as an alleged source of weakness,” he added.

Ambassador Jazairy reiterated the importance of identifying “inspiring ideals to foster unity in diversity and to be guided by our common humanity.” “Tolerance is not an end in itself, but it is the path that leads to empathy. The latter is the gateway to peace,” he underlined in his opening remarks.

Echoing Ambassador Jazairy, Reverend Dr Peniel Rajkumar, the World Council of Churches’ Programme Coordinator at the Office of Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation, highlighted that “hospitality and empathy have something to offer – as they both have the element of moving beyond our own comfort zone into the life of the other.”

In his opening remarks, Mr Alexander Mejia, Director of the UNITAR Division for People and Social Inclusion, spoke of the importance of dialogue in the framework of the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development which has to be people-centered and where peace and tolerance have been put in priority. In this regard, faith based organizations need to play a major role and focus on those left behind.

Giving examples of Spain and Fiji, he illustrated successful efforts in combatting violent extremism, youth radicalization and building community resilience. Mr Mejia added that it is crucial to garner the support of public opinion in promoting tolerance and acceptance of the Other.

Tolerance and empathy will open pathways for dialogue and lasting peace

The conference focused on the outcome of the historical visit of HH Pope Francis and the Great Imam of Al-Azhar HE Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayyib to the United Arab Emirates in February 2019.

During the visit, the Joint Document entitled “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” was adopted on 4 February 2019 by these Eminent Dignitaries reiterating the importance of harnessing the collective energy of religions and faiths to uphold equal citizenship rights and in the promotion of tolerant and inclusive societies.

Dr Farouk Hamada, Spiritual Advisor to the Court of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, underlined that the future of humanity lies in the promotion of peace and security but that a tiny minority of terrorist spread fear, hatred and destruction.

A great responsibility therefore rests with religious and lay leaders as well as educational institutions. In this context, he cited the example of the UAE which represents a contemporary model of cooperation, co-existence and tolerance with 200 nationalities among which the law makes no distinction in terms of rights and justice.

A unique development – he said – was the meeting on 4 February 2019 in Abu Dhabi between HH the Pope and the Grand Imam of Al Azhar resulting in the adoption of the Joint Document on Human Fraternity which built upon the foundations of tolerance and convergence laid by the founder of the UAE HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Dr Hamada added that the 25 June World Conference expressed the same principles and vision. The speaker added that the current President of the UAE HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan followed the same path and proclaimed 2019 as the Year of Tolerance in the country.

In this regard, the Permanent Observer of the Sovereign Order of Malta to UN Geneva, HE Ambassador Marie-Thérèse Pictet-Althann, stated that the Joint Document on Human Fraternity is a recipe for addressing the “challenges humanity faces in its efforts to restore and spread a culture of tolerance.”

“It supports the view of citizenship based on equal rights and obligations, demonstrating the need to reject any form of discrimination as well as the term of minority, which brings about sentiments of inferiority and isolation,” she added.

Ambassador Jazairy in turn cited the provisions contained in the Joint Document on Human Fraternity, stating that it “expresses almost identically” the fundamental values and messages contained in the Outcome Declaration of the World Conference on “Moving Towards Greater Spiritual Convergence Worldwide in Support of Equal Citizenship Rights” that was adopted on 25 June 2018 at the World Conference on religions and equal citizenship rights.

This conference which was held by the Geneva Centre and its partners in Geneva on 25 June 2018 under the Patronage of HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and which received strong support by the UN Secretary-General through a video message.

“They both contain vibrant calls to celebrate diversity, promote a culture of fraternity and cultivate profound empathy towards the Other,” he said.

It was also noted at the panel that a resolution was unanimously adopted by the participants at the XIV International Conference on “A New Concept for Human Security” held on 26 October 2018 in Belgrade by the European Centre for Peace and Development – UN University for Peace, endorsing the World Conference Outcome Declaration.

The Geneva Centre has likewise submitted draft resolutions to The League of Arab States, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the African Union and to the Organizing Committee of the 5th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue requesting the endorsement of the Outcome Declaration. The participants expressed their keen desire to join in supporting this milestone Outcome Declaration.

In conclusion, the former Permanent Representative of Yemen to UN Geneva, Dr. Ebrahim al-Adoofi, moved that the meeting address a message of appreciation to the government of New Zealand in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Muslims praying in two mosques in Christchurch on 15 March. The meeting which adopted this proposal unanimously felt that the handling of the aftermath of this terrible event stood out as a shining example of the potential of convergence between world religions and a recognition that it is empathy and not ethnicity that create and maintain the community.

During the meeting, the panellists and the audience observed a minute of silence in solidarity with all innocent victims of violence and hatred worldwide.

The post ‘We must all work together to defeat hatred and xenophobic discourse against the Other and nurture acceptance and empathy,’ say eminent panellists in a conference held at the UN appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Cases are reported in the flooded port city of Beira, a week after it was hit by a deadly cyclone.

Malawi and Morocco play out a goalless draw on the final weekend of qualifying for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Egypt.

Young migrant women record a video during a digital media workshop aimed at building their skills and confidence. The training was conducted by WACC partner Ideosync Media Combine. Credit: Ideosync Media Combine

By Marites Sison
TORONTO, Mar 22 2019 (IPS)

When the most devastating flood in Bihar’s history came in 1987, Renu Devi recalled that the rampaging waters and landslides had swept away people who were sleeping, along with their beds.

There was no water to drink and people went hungry for days in the aftermath of the disaster. “It was the most painful time. Sometimes I think no one should suffer so much,” said Renu, who recorded her experience in a two-minute video that included recent photographs of her, as well as historical images found online of the great flood.

The flood – which destroyed more than 1.7 million homes and killed 1,399 people and 5,302 animals – had brought Renu and her husband to the slums of JJ camp, on the outskirts of Delhi, where they have lived in a shanty ever since.

“We had lost everything then,” she said. They had no money to buy a train ticket, so they sold the watch that her mother had gifted her son-in-law. “We sold that and bought a 25-rupee ticket to come to Delhi.”

Renu was one of 20 migrant women and girls who produced a video after taking part in a year-long project implemented by WACC partner Ideosync Media Combine, which sought to empower migrant women by building their skills and confidence through the use of digital media.

Women and girls from three urban areas on the outskirts of Delhi – the JJ slum cluster colony on the Faradibabad Bypass Road, Khan Badarpur Border and Palla Urban Village – learned how to operate mobile phones and use them to take photographs, record audio and video, edit short photo stories and browse the Internet.

The project, Fair/Dem Sarai, developed a training manual with audio/visual stories focusing on freedom of expression, gender equality, right to information and other human rights, and shared this in workshops that were often held on doorsteps and laneways of the communities.

The goal was not simply to teach them new skills, but to “open a new window of possibilities” for women and girl migrants who often have no voice in their homes and communities.

“Women and migrants are also vulnerable because of existing patriarchal structures that restrict their mobility and make them victims of other forms of violence,” said Lorenzo Vargas, WACC Program Manager for Communication for Social Change.

Ideosync Media Combine, in its project report, noted that the lives of young girls living in these communities are often restricted because the city is known to be unsafe for women.

The project also wanted to record the experiences of Delhi’s migrants, which often do not find their way into the mainstream media. Its initial research showed that women and girls in these communities were concerned about such issues as domestic violence, lack of sanitation, unemployment, safety, drug and alcohol abuse.

“Most women work from home and a large number of girls drop out from school before completing secondary education,” the report noted.

Migrant women learn how to use a mobile phone to tell their stories during a new media training conducted in the outskirts of Delhi. Credit: Ideosync Media Combine

While access to mobile phones and the Internet are generally available in these areas, they are largely used by men, it added. Many women who were initially interviewed said they had no use for new technology or felt inadequate because of their lack of education.

After taking part in the project, however, women and girls found “they wanted to tell stories – stories of how they came to be in the city and what it means to them,” said the report. “They cried as they recorded their own voice and spoke of the hardships they have endured to eke out a living here. Girls told stories about their mothers, questioned gender inequality, learned to report on garbage and education issues.”

In a video testimonial, Poornima, a young girl from Tajpur Pahadi, Badarpur, spoke enthusiastically about how she learned how to take better photographs and make a video that she could show to her community. She expressed the hope that other girls would be given the same opportunity.

“I just want that every girl should get a chance to do something in their life. I am feeling good,” she said, adding that she would teach others so they, too, can tell their own stories.

Nirmal, a middle-aged migrant, said in video testimonial that she learned how to use the cellphone, browse the Internet and YouTube, take photographs, videos and audio recording. “Now I am not dependent on anyone, anymore,” she said.

Most of the participants said they would use their new skills to document events in their community. “These trainings will help us further. It’s a good way to solve community problems,” said Kusum, from Block B, Madanpur Khadar, in another testimonial.

Participants produced 37 stories in total, which have had several public screenings in communities and have helped them establish ties with local NGOs.

Migrant woman learns how to use a cellphone to browse the Internet during a training workshop. Credit: Ideosync Media Combine

While most participants “found it hard to focus on just their migration experience,” the report said there were several stories around the tyranny of landlords, lack of electricity in their homes, the hardships of earning a living on the streets as vegetable vendors facing police violence, the longing for their language, the injustice of the newly-introduced digitally-verifiable identity card (Aadhaar) system, which several of them are unable to access to get support as people living below the poverty line. (Most migrants are from the states of Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.)

The project – which ran from February 10, 2018 to February 28, 2019 – produced many “unintended positive consequences,” among them a marked increase of levels of capacity and reported self-confidence, the report said.

Half of the trainees bought their own mobile phones and one started his own YouTube channel and became quite popular with his regular posts after the project. An older migrant woman learned how to navigate the web and now regularly uses YouTube and Google search engines to explore new designs for her tailoring shop.

“The project went very well,” said Ram [LAST NAME], executive director of Ideosync Media Combine. “In some ways, the network of migrant women is still finding its feet. But, all in all, it is a much more stable and coherent community communication process than when we started.”

The project has brought together a group of committed and informed women from the community “who have begun to recognize the need for raising their voice,” Ideosync’s report noted. “In this sense, this project has worked towards empowering migrant women to advance their communication rights in order to advance other rights as well.”

The post A New Window for Delhi’s Migrant Women & Girls appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Marites Sison is Communications Officer at the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC)

The post A New Window for Delhi’s Migrant Women & Girls appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Communities in Zimbabwe continue to search through rubble for family members missing after the storm.

Group of refugees supported by South Florida's Refugee Assistance Alliance organization.

By Rose Delaney
MIAMI, Mar 22 2019 (IPS)

South Florida has long been known as a haven for refugees and migrants. Widely referred to as the “gateway to Latin America”, 1 in every 5 Florida residents is an immigrant. Significantly, the “sunshine state” welcomes 1,000 new settlers every day.

At present, The State of Florida’s refugee program is the largest in the United States, resettling more than 25,000 refugees and 2,000 asylum seekers each year.

South Florida’s refugee population is predominantly made up of Cubans and Haitians. Interestingly enough, Cubans account for over 80% of arrivals per year.

Due to the high numbers of migrants arriving from Latin America and the Caribbean, Florida’s diverse refugee communities from countries such as Syria, Iraq Palestine, and Ethiopia are often overlooked.

Oftentimes, the resources needed by these small refugee groups are limited, due to the absence of socio-cultural understanding, and lack of services available to them in their native language.

Although the Syrian refugee population in South Florida only amounts to roughly 90 people, groups such as the Refugee Assistance Alliance and Muslim Women’s Organization of South Florida are determined to help not only Syrian, but all underserved refugee communities.

Undoubtedly, according to Refugee Assistance Alliance’s founder and executive director, Kristen Bloom, refugee families’ main setback comes through their lack of English. Although the refugee resettlement process offers English classes, many cannot attend due to limited transportation, lack of childcare and conflicting schedules.

Furthermore, as English classes cater to predominantly Hispanic students with English-Spanish bilingual teachers, oftentimes, the families feel both culturally and linguistically isolated in the classroom and prefer to stay at home.

Significantly, non-profit groups have placed a keen focus on educating the Mothers of the households with no external occupation, as they are the least likely to be exposed to the language.

Refugee advocates believe by empowering the female head of the family, all the other family members will feel confident in their new surroundings.

For example, an ongoing Syrian refugee gathering, “A Taste of Syria” held in Miami, empowers Syrian chefs, always women, to cook food and earn a profit from it.

For many Syrian women, this is the first time they have provided for their family financially and it has granted them with a new sense of purpose.

Last month, a second-generation Cuban migrant recounted the story of his father’s journey to the United States at a Taste of Syria event. His father was met with open arms in an American restaurant as a waitress proclaimed “Welcome to America” and did not charge him for his meal.

The man claimed that most Floridians know what it’s like to be uprooted from the country of their birth and start all over again.

He extended a warm welcome to all the refugee families present. “We want you to thrive and succeed here.” He said to the group of refugees at the dinner, just as the waitress said to his father many years ago, “Welcome to America”.

Ultimately, the main objective for all refugee families in the United States is to become self-sufficient. Ideally, the families will pass on the skills they have learned to incoming refugees as “mentors.”

Refugee support organizations across South Florida would no longer need to exist if this goal is met. However, refugee rights advocates hope that if incoming refugee numbers increase, they will always have someone to help.

Unfortunately, the incoming refugee quota in the United States is at a historic low. Surprisingly, in 2018, only 11 Syrian refugees were admitted in North America.

What’s more, for Fiscal Year 2019 (FY 2019) the Trump administration proposes a resettlement cap of 30,000 refugees. This figure lies in stark contrast to Obama’s cap of 110,000 refugees in FY 2017.Oftentimes, due to strict vetting processes, the quota is not even met.

Many Floridians are unaware of the small yet underserved Syrian, Iraqi, Ethiopian etc. refugee communities that surround them.

By advocating for refugee rights and empowering them through entrepreneurship, education and inclusion, the divisive “fear” and stigmatization shadowing refugees and migrants will eventually break down.

As a global society, we must continue to include refugees in our communities, so they may become self-sufficient and contribute in the most impactful way.

The post South Florida’s Underserved Refugee Communities appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A stranded motorist in Mozambique tells of the scene of devastation along the Beira to Chimoio highway.

Banned Togolese referee Kokou Hougnimon Fagla admits he was asked to manipulate an international friendly but did not agree to do so.

Police say the vehicles were travelling in separate directions when the crash occurred.

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr questions Leicester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho's commitment and professionalism to the national team.

By Iris Hsu
TAIPEI, Mar 22 2019 (IPS)

Reporting on China’s harassment of journalists has never been easy. Lately it’s been getting much harder, which suggests that conditions for the press could be worsening.

At least 47 journalists were jailed in China at the time of CPJ’s 2018 prison census and I am investigating at least a dozen other cases, but the details are hard to verify.

The reason: authorities are deliberately preventing information from getting out–and they are getting really good at it.

Among the cases I’m investigating are the arrests in December of 45 contributors at Bitter Winter, a religious and human rights news website, who were detained and interrogated for exposing details about Xinjiang’s secret camps; reports from December 14 that police in Tianjin arrested a woman for exposing an outbreak of African swine fever on her WeChat account for the alleged crime of “spreading rumors”; the arrests from 2016 to 2018 by Xinjiang police of at least 30 Uighur editors working for local newspapers and television broadcasters; and the case of a woman who live-streamed police breaking into her apartment and taking her away in August, as an officer asked, “What did you say on the internet?”

Information was so scarce on the latter cases, that CPJ was unable to confirm who the journalists were and if they were still detained at the time of our prison census.By ensuring little to no information is available on these individuals, Chinese authorities are able to prevent widespread coverage and avoid being held to account for their actions.

In researching these cases and others I identified at least five methods China uses to try to prevent coverage of journalist arrests.

Sealing court records

Chinese laws require courts to make verdicts public on court websites as long as they don’t contain “state secrets.” However, I was unable to find records for any of the journalists on our prison census, or in the other cases under investigation, including for reporters convicted of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”

Ding Lingjie, the editor of Minsheng Guancha (Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch), is one of several journalists imprisoned on that charge, whose records should have been made public.

As testament to the opacity of Chinese judicial system, only six judgments from 2018 are posted on the website of the Beijing Shijingshan People’s Court, which is handling Ding’s case. No data is available for last year, but the Beijing court system says the court has taken on over 5,600 cases since January 1, which gives an idea of the scale of the cases it handles. In December, it sentenced Ding in a closed hearing to one year and eight months in prison, according to news reports.

Authorities also physically block lawyers from reading their clients’ court papers. On February 13, Zhang Zanning, who represents Huang Qi, founder of the human rights news website 64 Tianwang, was not allowed to see his client and was denied access to court records because “the judge was on vacation.”

A day later, when Zhang returned to the detention center, authorities blocked him again without providing a reason and told him that his law firm was no longer handling the case, according to Radio Free Asia and Zhang’s statement on Minsheng Guancha.

In another example, the state-owned newspaper People’s Daily reported on September 10 that Shaanxi authorities had made 96 arrests in a month in connection to “fabricating news reports” and “news blackmailing.”

Despite combing through public court judgments on China Judgements Online, a public access service that allows users to review verdicts, orders, mediation documents, and notices, I was unable to find any records relating to the arrests.

Censoring news coverage

Chinese authorities often issue instructions to media outlets forbidding coverage of a reporter’s arrest or trial. When the Mianyang Intermediate People’s Court held a trial for Huang, Chinese media received an order from the government to not “report, republish, or comment without prior arrangement” on Huang’s case, according to China Digital Times, a California-based media organization that reports on uncensored news in China.

In cases that don’t involve politics or human rights, authorities allow some reporting but often key details, such as the suspect’s name and alleged crime, are redacted.

Take the Shaanxi arrests last year of people whom authorities called “fake journalists.” Authorities said they detained 96 people, and shut down five social media accounts, 15 local broadcasters, and 45 apps on accusations of spreading illegal political information or rumors, according to news reports.

However, only a few vague reports appeared in media outlets or on the website of the Shaanxi Provincial Administration of Radio and TV. These scant news reports failed to provide names, which made the task of beginning to verify any of the 96 arrests near to impossible.

Blocking foreign IPs and VPNs

Last year, authorities officially banned the unauthorized use of virtual private networks (VPNs), a service many in China rely on to circumvent the infamous “Great Firewall.” In October, companies providing VPN services said they had detected a higher frequency of authorities attempting to block VPNs, leading to suspicions that the government had deployed on-the-ground censors to work against them.

When I called the Cyberspace Administration of China for comment, an official said that he had no information on the matter and refused to redirect my call.

In January, I experienced connectivity lags while browsing Chinese websites, including China’s largest online search engine Baidu, public security bureau websites, and the social platform Weibo, from Taiwan, where I’m based. Access was blocked entirely and restored only when I switched to other devices and used a different IP address.

The experience suggests that authorities not only attempt to control the use of internet within China’s borders, they also try to keep its so-called “internet sovereignty” intact by denying searches from outside the country.

Cutting police station phone lines

After China’s use of “re-education camps” to detain up to a million Uighur minorities came to international attention in 2017, it became more difficult to contact public security bureaus in Xinjiang for confirmation or comment on arrests. I found that police and officials no longer answered my calls and several listed numbers were no longer connected.

Xu Xiaoli, the wife of award-winning photojournalist Lu Guang who disappeared in the region in November, experienced the same issue. She said on Twitter that when she tried to contact police in Xinjiang for information about her husband, “none of the listed numbers worked.”

On the rare occasions that I do get through to an official, they refuse to answer my questions. In September, I attempted to contact the Urumqi Public Security Bureau to ask about detained scholar and blogger Ilham Tohti and his fellow students. Several calls went unanswered before a female official answered the phone.

As soon as I identified myself, she hung up. I made another call and the same official answered. This time she yelled at me, seemingly in panic, and told me to never call this number to ask questions again.

Intimidating lawyers, family and friends

As well as declining to comment on detentions, China has threatened family, friends, and lawyers. Authorities held Pu Wenqing, the mother of jailed journalist Huang, in an undisclosed location for nearly two months, with no contact with friends or activists, according to news reports.

Even after her release on January 21, police called her and ordered her not to post anything online, according to Radio Free Asia. The officer who made the calls told Radio Free Asia that he was under state security orders to monitor internet traffic about Huang’s case. Pu is still under surveillance today, a 64 Tianwang volunteer told me.

While Pu was under detention, Guangdong’s Department of Justice disbarred Huang’s lawyer Liu Zhengqing for “using language that endangers state security and slanders others,” according to reports.

Huang’s previous lawyer Sui Muqing was disbarred for “using uncivilized, offensive wording” and other poor behavior while representing a fellow lawyer, and for bringing a cell phone to take photos of a rights activist in a detention center whom he was representing, according to news reports and Sui’s Twitter account.Both Sui and Liu had been vocal about Huang’s case. They talked to the media and posted case updates regularly on social media platforms and human rights websites.

I found in late 2018 that lawyers with whom I had previously spoken were now declining to talk about the detained journalists they represent. At least two told CPJ they could not speak for fear of retaliation from the government.

Despite attempts by China to censor and silence the press, journalists continue to report on critical social issues–even if it means they risk arrest. And CPJ continues to investigate and publicize their cases.

*Prior to joining CPJ, Hsu interned at Human Rights Watch, Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, and the Atlantic Council. Hsu obtained her master’s degree in international affairs from American University. She speaks Mandarin and French and lives in Taipei.

The post How Many Journalists are Jailed in China? Censorship Means We Don’t Know appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Iris Hsu* is China correspondent for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

The post How Many Journalists are Jailed in China? Censorship Means We Don’t Know appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Kenyans have accused their government of ignoring drought victims in north-west Kenya.

John Mikel Obi says he thought he would find out his father had been shot after playing in a World Cup game for Nigeria.

Women and girls from Myanmar are increasingly being trafficked as “brides” to China. Aung Ja* was 18 when a woman from Myitkina, northern Myanmar, convinced her to take a ‘factory’ job in China. She was rescued in 2017 and is taking part in a UN Women-supported trafficking prevention programme. Photo: UN Women/Stuart Mannion

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 22 2019 (IPS)

Women and girls from Myanmar are increasingly being trafficked as “brides” to China, a human rights group found.

In a new report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented numerous cases of women and girls from Myanmar’s Kachin and northern Shan States who were trafficked and forced into sexual slavery in China, as well as the alarming lack of law enforcement on the issue.

“Myanmar and Chinese authorities are looking away while unscrupulous traffickers are selling Kachin women and girls into captivity and unspeakable abuse,” said Acting Women’s Rights Co-Director at HRW and author of the report Heather Barr.

“The dearth of livelihoods and basic rights protections have made these women easy prey for traffickers, who have little reason to fear law enforcement on either side of the border,” she added.

Over the past 40 years, conflict in Kachin and norther Shan states has caused long-term displacement and left many struggling to survive.

As humanitarian aid is largely blocked by Myanmar’s government, internally displaced people (IDPs) living in camps do not receive enough food and renewed fighting has pushed families to the brink of desperation.

Since many men are taking part in the conflict, women often become the sole breadwinners for their families and have no choice but to seek work across the border in China. But often they are enticed under false pretences, falling prey to traffickers.

“Those living in the camps are without money or anything. Not being able to make ends meet, it is women and girls who pay the price,” said a worker from Kachin Women’s Association (KWA) which assists trafficking victims.

Another Kachin activist echoed similar sentiments, stating: “Normally the target is the family who are facing financial crisis…but now the [brokers] are targeting the IDP camps. It’s a better place to gather people. They are in one space. Most of the brokers are involved as relatives or acquaintances.”

HRW found that out of 37 survivors interviewed, 15 were recruited by friends and 12 by an acquaintance. Another 6 were recruited and sold by their own relatives.

Many of the trafficking survivors interviewed were sold for between 3,000 and 13,000 dollars. Once delivered to their “buyers,” they were often locked in a room and raped frequently so as to make them pregnant.

Survivor “Brides”

After fleeing conflict in Kachin State and living in an IDP camp, 16-year-old Seng Moon was told of a job as a cook by her sister-in-law in China’s Yunnan province.

In the car, Seng Moon’s sister-in-law gave her something she said prevented car sickness causing Seng Moon to fall asleep immediately. She told Human Rights Watch that she woke up with her hands tied behind her back and was left with a Chinese family.

“My sister-in-law left me at the home…the family took me to a room. In that room I was tied up again…they locked the door—for one or two months…each time when the Chinese man brought me meals, he raped me,” Seng Moon said.

After another couple of months, she was told that she was married to the Chinese man who continued to be abusive.

Once Seng Moon was pregnant and gave birth, the husband said,“No one plans to stop you. If you want to go back home, you can. But you can’t take my baby.”

After two years, she was able to escape with her son.

Other survivors however were forced to leave behind their children. Of the people interviewed, eight left behind children.

Some trafficked women and girls were also forced to be both “brides” and labourers.

Ja Seng Nu was held for almost a year on a watermelon farm near Shanghai, locked in a room, physically abused, and raped every night by the son of the family who owned the farm “because [they] wanted a child as soon as possible.”

At the same time, she had to get up very early, cook breakfast for the farm’s workers, and then work in the fields all day.

Those who were caught trying to escape usually faced even more abuse.

Mai Mai Tsawm, who was trafficked at 21, told HRW that she met a woman who tried to run and after being caught by her “husband,” he tied her neck and hands to the end of a motorbike and dragged her behind the bike.

Tsawm said she did not know whether the woman had survived or not.

If they are able to escape successfully, many trafficked women and girls have difficulty grappling with trauma and face stigma within their communities.

“Most victims face terrible situations. They come back, and they are totally different from us. They are just gazing, staring…People who just came back don’t even dare to go outside and show their faces…They feel guilty for being [trafficked],” a KWA worker said.

A Long Road to Justice and Recovery

Among the reasons for the rise in trafficking has been attributed to the “woman shortage” in China.

According to the Chinese government’s 2000 census, there were over 120 boys born for every 100 girls between 1996 and 2000. The World Health Organization has stated a normal ratio at birth is approximately 105 boys to 100 women.

The estimated 30 to 40 million “missing women” in the East Asian nation is partly due to its one-child policy which led to a preference for boys.

The gender imbalance is leaving many Chinese men without wives. In fact, by 2030, projections show that 25 percent of Chinese men in their late 30s will never have married.

Despite evidence for trafficking, HRW expressed concern over the lack of law enforcement and services to prevent trafficking and help those who have been trafficked.

The organization found that law enforcement officers in both China and Myanmar made little effort to recover trafficked women and girls, and those that sought help to find missing relatives were turned away and told that they would have to pay if they wanted they police to act.

HRW also reported that when trafficking survivors escaped and ran to the Chinese police, they were sometimes jailed for immigration violations rather than treated as crime victims.

“The Myanmar and Chinese governments, as well as the Kachin Independence Organization, should be doing much more to prevent trafficking, recover and assist victims, and prosecute traffickers,” Barr said.

“Donors and international organizations should support the local groups that are doing the hard work that governments won’t to rescue trafficked women and girls and help them recover,” she added.

HRW also urged for both China and Myanmar to develop formalized recruitment pathways for people from Myanmar to safely travel and legally obtain employment in China and establish measures to encourage reporting of suspected trafficking.

They also stressed the need to provide comprehensive services to survivors to combat stigma and provide access to livelihood support such as education and training and end the practice of jailing trafficking survivors.

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• Slavery is Not a Thing of the Past, It Still Exists Today Affecting Millions
• Human Trafficking – Hidden in Plain Sight

The post Myanmar and China’s Bride Trafficking Problem appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

This is part of a series of features from across the globe on human trafficking. IPS coverage is supported by the Riana Group.

The post Myanmar and China’s Bride Trafficking Problem appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Roberto Savio
ROME, Mar 22 2019 (IPS)

If we ever needed proof of how the political system has become self-referential and unable to update itself, the latest student march in more than 1,000 towns is a very good example.

Of course, politicians referred to it in declarations and, in a totally demagogic gesture, Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Community and an old political fox with a lot of mileage, even kissed the hand of Greta Thunber. She is the 16-year-old Swedish girl who, frustrated with the pace of government action to deal with climate change, launched a “school strike for climate” last year, setting off an international youth movement and widespread demonstrations in an unprecedented initiative on climate change. We are fortunate that the Asperger’s syndrome Greta suffers from brings little empathy and greater determination, so is totally improbable that she will be co-opted by  flattery and recognition.

Roberto Savio

It was interesting to see the reaction of politicians.  In the Italian Parliament, for example, insiders report that the reaction was one of “in any case they do not vote, they are too young”.

It should be recalled that in its 2017 budget, the Italian government earmarked 20 billion dollars to save four Italian banks and just two billion dollars for subsidies and support to young people. School principals from Germany to Italy declared that the duty of students is to study, not take part in demonstrations, and – as usual – a conspiracy theory circulated that because climate change is  too complex an issue for young people to understand, Greta was clearly a puppet in the hands of adults.

Newspapers dwelt on the relations between her family and climate change campaigners to show that she had been used. Maybe so, but it is now too late to discredit her. She acted on her initiative, on goals that were hers, and the hundreds of thousands of students around the world were not copying her … she has awakened a chord that was already there.

The fact is that when masses of students from all over the world mobilise around a utopia (a concept which has totally disappeared in the political world), adults become uncomfortable. It measures the distance between what we are now and what we were when young; the world was more idealistic then than now, and we all had some hope and engagement.

That distance is quite large … many of us have betrayed those ideals or put them to sleep. The way out is scepticism and paternalism.  We know the reality, we know what dreams are, and young people should listen to our experiences. In May 1968, Tristan Tzara, the father of Dadaism, shouted to the marching students from his balcony: ”Criez, criez, vous serez tous des notaires” (Yell, shout, you will all be notaries). And for those of us who have not betrayed ideals and commitments, there is the sad realisation that we are a failed generation, a generation that was unable to implement its vision of a better society.

The difference is that when we were young, the most existential threat was the atomic bomb, and we took part in many marches. Today, that threat is not only coming back to haunt us with abolition of the  Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), but there is a new existential threat: climate change.

What is very impressive is that many students speak of how they are changing their lifestyle: from not using plastic bottles, to reducing  meat consumption and using less water when they brush their teeth. This change of lifestyle goes far beyond climate change, it goes to the heart of our consumption society and its values, a society in which advertising budgets are greater than those for education,

And the fact that the heavy users of Internet, the first willing victims of commercialisation of the Net, start to doubt the use by Google, Twitter and other platforms of people as consumers and not as citizens is a significant fact. They are now ignoring advertising. Automakers are very sad that the car is no longer a status symbol among young people … Nike, jeans and smartphones are today’s status symbols and their impact on climate is much smaller.

Extremely interesting are the reflections of a high-level staff member of the World Economic Forum in Davos: We view with great sympathy the mobilisation  of civil society .. thanks to them, several gaps in the field of medical assistance, museum and art care, and many social problems, are being taken care of … this has a dual positive effect: it reduces social tensions, and it keeps volunteers busy, and out of political engagement. In other words, civil society activists are seen as hamsters: running all the time, and going nowhere.

The time has perhaps come for our generation to make three considerations.

The first is that we would do well to remember that until the crisis of 2008, with the exception of Le Pen in France, populist, xenophobic and nationalist parties were marginal. Now they are everywhere, except for Portugal, and they are frequently in power, as in Italy, Austria, Poland and Hungary, or in the government coalitions of several countries, including the Nordic countries. Nobody at that time could have thought of rabid nationalists like Trump, Bolsonaro, Duque, Modi , Duterte,  Abe or Xi, or how the multilateral system, based on the idea of peace and cooperation, would be disintegrating.

Now we know what capitalism and finance mean when they are unchecked. We now have a financial system that is 40 times more powerful that the world of industry and services, and without any control. Since 2008, banks have been fined over 800 billion dollars for illegal practices.

Nobody foresaw a world where 40 peoples would possess the same wealth as 2.3 billion people, a world where in just one minute the family owner of the Walmart supermarket chain makes the equivalent of the yearly salary of its employees. Over the last decade, fiscal paradises have hidden at least 30 trillion dollars from the fiscal system: six times the budget of the US government. Countries are now unable to act globally, while finance does so daily, unfettered.

The last decade has seen a steady deterioration of democracy, of social justice, of concern to secure a future for the young and halt the existential threat to the planet, to humans, animals and plants.

There have been only two new changes. One is the arrival of women on the political scene, with millions mobilising against injustice and patriarchism. Has that enormous mobilisation brought about any change in legislations and budgets? Hardly. On the contrary, the prestige of dinosaurs like Putin, Trump, Kaciesnky, Orban,  Salvini, Le Pen and company has been reinforced; they are the defenders of the values of the Western civilization, against dissolution of the family and the advancement  of woman (associated in the same breath with lesbians, gays and transgenders in a revealing logic). The second is the arrival of young people who are mobilising … so far, the extreme right has made no comment. Yet, touching on climate change, alternative energies and lifestyle is bound to create opposition soon or later. A strange destiny that of the extreme right; it is now against peace, development and social justice as central values. In a short space of time it will be against woman, and now it will be against young people.

The second consideration.  In fact, the main value of this campaign by young people is that it has put the political system in front of its responsibilities. “We have no time”, and it is true. We are all mesmerised by the Treaty of Paris on climate change, with the participation of all countries of the world.  However, it is important to see how the Treaty was conceived.  To make a tent large enough to accommodate everybody, the rules are: every country will decide what targets it will adopt; and every country is responsible for checking implementation of its engagement. What would happen if we did that with taxes? Citizens would decide how many taxes they would pay, and all would be responsible for seeing that  they complied.

Well, on the basis of the engagements taken until today, global temperature will increase by 3.5 degrees Centigrade compared with 1840. Scientists have always insisted that a reasonable limit is 1.5 degrees Centigrade, after which they speak of irreversible changes. Paris adopted the goal of 2 degrees Centigrade  to make things easier.

Then Trump left the Treaty, explaining that climate change is a Chinese hoax to block American development. He has cancelled all legislation on climate control created before him, to the point that he is now opening all national parks to fossil fuel extraction. Of course, this pleases people like the Koch brothers who own almost all the coal mines; the petrochemical companies; the workers displaced by the fight against climate change, like miners. And it pleases the large numbers of Americans who see China as the main threat, and believe that America is a victim of international exploitation, especially by its allies (Canada, Europe, Japan), Trump’s withdrawal has given a perfect alibi to countries like Poland (coal) and Saudi Arabia (oil) and others for ducking the issue.

So governments now say that in 2020, when the first conference on implementation will be held, they will assess the situation. But the students are here to remind us that,  according the vast majority of scientists, unless we change the present trend, by 2030 we will be over the famous threshold, of 1.5 degrees centigrade, and they are calling for an unprecedented effort. But climate change is now is considered a left-wing issue,  and  times are not really the best. In other words, there are many chances that we will reach 2020 and we will still be debating. The very important Laudatio Si encyclical from Pope Francis, who links climate to social justice, migration, technological progress, and so in a holistic approach, has been largely ignored.

Young people are asking us to act now. As Greta said at Davos: when we arrive in society, the damage will already have been done. This is an intergenerational call, and it  is very important and powerful. “Parents, if you say you love us, why you do not take care of our future?“ Should young people take a lesson from the violence of the Yellow Jackets in France to be heard, instead of peaceful marches?

Now to the third consideration. The climate movement comes after several others grassroots movements. The most traumatic was the protest against the World Trade Organisation in Chicago in 1999, when thousands protested against unchecked capitalism imposed by the Washington Consensus (a holistic neoliberal view of international and national  relations, based on extreme reduction of the role of the state and unfettered capitalism). This Consensus,  subscribed to by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the US Treasury,  changed the trend  from cooperation to competition and success. Social costs were unproductive, only trade and finance were the tools for the world. Margaret Thatcher famously said: there is no society, only individuals.

Then, in 2001, in Porto Alegre, the World Social Forum was created, a meeting place for sharing practices and views as an alternative to Davos, and started a process of conferences with several hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world. This process continues today, albeit with a major loss of steam. Ten years later, in 2011, the Movement of the Indignados started in Madrid, asking for change to the democratic and financial system, and spread to 68 towns of Spain, lasting until 2015. Anti-system parties came out in 2013, and stood at the European elections of 2014.  Podemos gathered 1,253,837 votes and won four seats. The others did not make it: Partido X received 105.561 votes, the Movement of Citizens Democratic Renewal 105,688 and Recortes Zero 30,827.  Had they stood together, they would have won seven seats. But a proverb says that the left unites only in front of a firing squad.

But many other citizens’ movement took to the streets.  In 2011, there was Occupy Wall Street against greed, corruption, social inequality and the power of finance and corporations over political institutions, joined by several hundreds of thousands of people.  Some see the Arab Spring, and the massive protests of Algiers as part of the same revolt. But it is instructive to see how the political system read those events. They were classified as anarchist movements. Horizontalism (they elected no leader), autonomy from existing institutions and defiance, demonising the rich and introducing class warfare, were considered proper of anarchists who rejected the political system.  So the content of demonstration was obscured by how they structured themselves.

It is a fact that by acting without the rules of organisation that political parties apply has been a huge handicap. Podemos, the only survivor of the Indignados wave, like the 5 Star Movement in Italy, structured itself as a political party. Like it or not, laws are made in parliament, and external protests, large as they might be (just think of the women’s movement), can be perfectly ignored, no risk except for recurring elections. But the political system today is not a free one. It is conditioned by finance, corporations, trade, armaments and technological developments (many more people will be made jobless by artificial intelligence than by migrants). The political system is hardly the representation of citizens in the old sense. There are 32,000 lobbyists in the US Congress, and 16,000 in the European Parliament: not really a symptom of unfettered democracy. The Koch brothers, who donate hundreds of millions of dollars to the Republican Party at each election, have a vote like the unemployed black guy from the suburbs. Do they compete at an equal level?

Now, the student movement is asking those in power to introduce urgent changes on their behalf. Until now the system has been able to ignore requests from peoples’ movements, and let them fritter away, “Students do not vote” was the main comment from the system after the last large demonstration.

Yet, the students are denouncing an existential threat, which will reach the brothers Koch, as well the black unemployed (but remember, the weakest will be affected much more). If the system does not listen to the voices of young people, the gap between political institutions and citizens will increase. And history tells us that voices from the street can be ignored once, twice, many times, but not for ever.

Young people are those who see clearly that climate change jeopardises their future, already affected by precarious jobs, unemployment and a difficult future in which pensions will be minimal. They see growing injustice and lack of participation. They represent a revolt based on idealism and hard facts. They are also a minority because of our changing demography. If the political system ignores this latest mass movement, it will take an unprecedented risk. What happens will be something that will shape history, If the young people are be ignored, democracy will be in great peril … killing idealism is a very great responsibility.

Publisher of OtherNews, Italian-Argentine Roberto Savio is an economist, journalist, communication expert, political commentator, activist for social and climate justice and advocate of global governance. Adviser to INPS-IDN and to the Global Cooperation Council. He is co-founder of Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency and its President Emeritus.

The post The System, Youth and Democracy appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Hibs and Burundi midfielder Gael Bigirimana says he owes his career to a trip to the shops to buy milk.