Stories from 15 August 2012
Video: What Egypt, Congo, Uganda and Colombia Have in Common
The search for justice in the wake of conflict is what Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Colombia have in common. The Case for Justice is a series of videos debating on the relevance of what is known as transitional justice, a set of systems that is put into place to allow for accountability in the wake of massive human rights violations.
Mauritania: Using Twitter to Mock the President
On August 6, President General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz appeared on national television - while police attacked a journalist who was covering the assault and arrest of a guest who called upon the General to leave. Local Twitter users followed and commented in real time.
Egypt: Essential Academic History Book Banned
The Egyptian authorities have banned the import of A History of the Modern Middle East by eminent academics William L Cleveland and Martin Bunton without giving reasons for the ban....
Russia: Ugly Side of Olympic Nationalism
"As a pureblooded Russian, and Russian patriot, it is distasteful to look at this disgrace. It’s better to have no medals, than to have Champions like this, ones who hardly speak Russian .." - Gold medal wins by Russian ethnic minorities anger some Russian nationalists.
Puerto Rico: Digital “No” Campaign Takes Off
The campaign in favour of voting “no” to the limitation on the right of bail in Puerto Rico's coming referendum on August 19 has taken off on the Internet. The feminist blog Mujeres...
Mexican Constitution Translated into Indigenous Languages
Ileana Fernández from Vivir México [es] reports that the Mexican Constitution was translated into Mayan and other indigenous languages.
Côte d'Ivoire: CivRoute, a Citizen Project to Monitor Road Traffic in Real Time
In Abidjan, Cyriac Gbogou introduces on his blog [fr] the citizen collaborative project Civroute [fr] that he co-founded. This online plateform will collect information sent by car drivers on the...
Colombia: Salsa Musician Jairo Varela Dies
On August 8, Colombian musician Jairo Varela Martinez died at the age of 62. Varela is known for founding the famous salsa band Grupo Niche. There were many comments on Twitter under different tags (Jairo Varela, Grupo Niche and Cali Pachanguero) as soon as his death was known.
France: Stories of Everyday Sexism
After being harassed and insulted by men in the streets of Brussels, Belgian student Sofie Peeters made a hidden-camera film to denounce the male chauvinism experienced every day by unaccompanied women in the streets. Under the hashtag #harcelementderue (street harassment), French women are testifying to the verbal abuse and sexual harassment that they are subjected to in the streets.
China: Cross-Province Hunting of an Investigative Reporter
"I exposed the official document of Jiansu Funing county which re-appointed 61 criminals back into the civil service." - Investigative reporter, Zhou Xiaoyun, is being hunted by cross-province authorities after exposing a corruption scandal.
#DearEgyptAir, Better Service Please
Over the past few years it has become apparent that, if one has a loud enough voice and a big enough audience—not to mention a good sense of humor—social media can serve as a great platform for change. On Wednesday, Egyptians took to Twitter to complain—and joke—about national airline Egypt Air.
China: International Scholars Call on Guangdong Government to Stop Repression against Labor NGOs
SACOM posts an open letter jointly signed by a group of international scholars, urging the Guangdong government to stop suppressing labour NGOs.
Is China's Africa Policy Failing?
The news of a Chinese mining boss being allegedly killed by striking workers in Zambia has caught Chinese netizens' attention, prompting them to compare the working conditions in both countries and question China's policy of 'development-aid diplomacy' in Africa.
