· June, 2010

Stories about War & Conflict from June, 2010

Kyrgyzstan: “I Call It a Massacre!”

English-language coverage of the situation in Kyrgyzstan – at neweurasia.net. Kyrgyz blogger writes: “Call it whatever you want, but I name it a massacre of Uzbeks in Osh and Jalalabad (Kyrgyzstan), which is, at the moment, still going on and the Interim government headed by Rosa Otunbaeva cannot do anything...

Armenia-Azerbaijan: Conflict Voices

In the 16 years since a ceasefire agreement put the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh on hold, successive attempts to broker a final peace have faltered. Could blogs and other online tools now offer alternative voices the opportunity to have their opinions on the conflict heard?

Mexico: Drug Cartel-Led Protest Paralyzes Monterrey Metropolitan Area

  11 June 2010

Last Wednesday, after the leader of drug trafficking band Los Zetas was captured, members of this drug cartel paralyzed the Monterrey Metropolitan Area with blockades in 20 different locations using their juvenile recruits who threatened bus drivers and civilians to leave their vehicles crossed through the streets.

Brazil/Israel: Open letter to the Israeli government

  11 June 2010

“Now, after the coward attack in international waters carried out by Israeli military against the fleet of humanitarian aid to Gaza” says Maria Frô [pt], “again [the movie-maker Sílvio] Tendler manifests” in an open letter to the Israeli government.

Russia: Mysterious Death of a Soldier in the Far East

Alexey Navalny, famous anti-corruption blogger, posted a shocking video [RUS], depicting an observation of Roman Suslov's dead body. According to Russian military officials, Suslov committed a suicide during the transfer to Far East military base, though his family and independent journalists suspect [RUS] he was tortured and later murdered by military...

Rwanda: Following The Peter Erlinder Case

  9 June 2010

Editions Sources du Nil has been posting several updates about the arrest of US citizen Peter Erlinder on May 28th, charged with denial of genocide (fr). They report that his detention has been prolonged and that he seems to be weakened since his arrest (fr).

Russia: Prosecutor's Office Forces Provider to Close Website

Prosecutor's office of Zabaikalsky region [EN] demanded to block [RUS] the website of newspaper “Russkoye Zabaikalie” (previously available at www.srn.megalink.ru), whose content has been officially recognized as “extremist.” Earlier, the newspaper's editor was given a 1-year suspended sentence [RUS] for xenophobic and anti-Semitic articles.

India: Conflict in Meghalaya

  9 June 2010

Dinesh Wagle pens an in-depth analysis of  what he feels are the reasons behind the ever-widening conflict between Khasis and Nepali migrant workers/Gorkhas in the North-Eastern Indian State of Meghalaya.

South Korea: Netizens Question Cause of Cheonan Tragedy

  8 June 2010

Ronda Hauben from Ohmynews blogs about south Korean netizen's doubt about the cause of Cheonan Tragedy and government's move to invite bloggers and twitterers “to dispel any doubts among the young that North Korea was behind the deadly attack”.

Israel: Pixies Pull Show Stopper

In the wake of mounting international criticism and condemnation of Israel’s clash with activists intent on breaking the blockade on Gaza, the Pixies, a veteran rock band, have canceled their concert in Israel. Nicole Hyman follows the debate on the link between music and politics on Twitter.

Armenia-Azerbaijan: Finding mutual ground online

As Global Voices looks back at the success of a Rising Voices project, Ceasefire Liberia, a citizen media site dealing with conflict and reconciliation, activity in the same area is starting to be noticed in the Caucasus. New and existing projects working towards establishing dialog and eventual peace in the region are starting to use new and social media in their activities.

Algeria-Morocco: Online Initiative to Reopen Borders

A group of Moroccan and Algerian citizens have launched an online campaign for the reopening of the borders and rapprochement between their neighboring countries. Relations between Algeria and Morocco have been strained by their contention over Western Sahara and their borders have been closed since 1994.