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matteo mohorovicich
http://20six.co.uk/mohorovicich
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senegal to censor media
A
ten hour silence by radio. Last week on Monday 10 Senegal leading radio
"Sud" has been closed for most part of the day because after the radio
interviewed Salif Sadio, leader of the armed wing of the secessionist
Democratic Forces Movement of Casamance (MFDC). Police arrived around 9
o'clock in the morning during the airing of the interview and ordered
to stop all transmissions.
The order was given by Interior Minister Ousamane Ngom, in the interests of State security, he said.
After a 22 year independence war to separate Casamance region from
Senegal, a deal was signed last december to end the conflict, even if
hardliners in MFDC refused to do that. According to Ngom, Sadio used
his 20 minute interview to call for the continuation of the 22 year
indipendence struggle.
The only question is if State security could be reached by stifling the media...
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Radio journalist in jail for his report on a local prison condition in Somalia
Another
journalist imprisoned. Awale Jama is in jail since the end of September
in Bossasso, a city of the self-declared autonomuos region of Puntland
in Somalia, for reporting by radio some information about his first
period of detention in the same prison, for reporting news about the
mayoral campaign in Bossasso.
He affirmed that conditions in jail were so bad they caused the spread of disease. Authorities are accusing him of defamation and publishing false information,
although he has not been officially charged.
Committee to protect journalist (Cpj) reports his full story.
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Zimbabwe and the growing price of anti-Aids drugs
+550% in three months. That's the amount on the price of a monthly supply of antiretroviral drugs in Zimbabwe.
From Zim $200,000 (US $ 7,70) to Zim $1.2 million (US $46) in most pharmacies.
Nevertheless, David Parirenyatwa, Zimbabwe's Minister of Health and
Child Welfare, told PlusNews that the government's treatment programme
continued selling the drugs at the same price - Zim $50,000 (US $2) -
and would continue to be heavily subsidised by the state, protecting
patients from price fluctuations.
Is it true? By now Zimbabwe, which has the world's forth rate of Hiv
infection, is going through a severe economic crisis: fuel and food
shortage due to recurring droughts and the government land
redistribution programme, which have disrupted agricultural production.
By now, says Lynde
Francis, who runs The Centre, an Hiv/Aids NGO with 4,500 registered
clients, people are forced to interrupt theri treatment, because they
have to choose between feeding and educating children or taking
anti-Hiv drugs.
Read more at Irin
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Sudan and Darfur: UN renews his mission and hopes Janjawid to be disarmed
Unmis
(UN Mission in Sudan) was renewed on Friday for further six months by
the UN Security Council. The Mission was settled to help the
implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed on January 9
by SUdanese president Umar al-Bashir and the former chaiman of Sudan
People's Liberatin Movement/Army (Spml/a) John Garang, who became
vice-president. The agreement put an end to the 21 year Noth-South
civil war, between Arab and non-Arab inhabitants, and led to a
government of national unit on September 21.
But instability is still in the air, as the death of John Garang in a
helicopter accident showed. On August 1, when the announcement was
given, inhabitans of the South went down on the street and assault
their Arab compatriots, claiming that Garang's death was caused by
al-Bashir's regime. Twenty-eight people were killed anc a curfew was
imposed in the capital Karthoum. The hate between Noth and South is
still living.
On the other hand, yesterday Juan
Mendez, the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on the Prevention of
Genocide, said in Karthoum tha Janjawid, an Arab militia group allied
to the Sudanese government, must be disarmed if peace is to return in
western Sudan region of Darfur. Since the start of the conflict, in
fact, janjawid were accused of the massacre of non-Arab inhabitants of
the region. Nowadays, according to UN, Janjawed remain still an
obstacle to the pacification of the country.
The UN says more than 2.9 million people continue to be affected by the
conflict, of whom 1.85 million are internally displaced or have fled to
neighbouring Chad.
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Shi Tao: Yahoo! had another choice to avoid to be evil to be legal
Rebecca MacKinnon, a research Fellow at the Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, focuses the real problem on her blog about the role Yahoo! played on the arrest and conviction of journalist Shi Tao.
Yahoo! declared they had to help Chinese authorities. In an email to Reuters, a spokesperson wrote: "Just like any other global company, Yahoo! must ensure that its local country sites must operate within the laws, regulations and customs of the country in which they are based."
But Rebecca MacKinnon claims that yahoo! could avoid the problem: instead of providing an e-mail service hosted on servers based inside China (as it actually does), making itself subject to Chinese legal jurisdiction, Yahoo! could have provided a service hosted offshore only. So Shi Tao wouldn't have been legally obligated to hand over his information.
Read this very interesting post on her blog.
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the national secret documet Shi Tao revealed
This is the full national secret document Shi Tao revealed. He took some notes, wrote critical comments about these violations of the freedom of press, and then submitted it to the US-based Democracy Net.
This document was distributed to Chinese media editorial groups in April 2004 and has been declared to be a State Secret by the Chinese Government.
4月20日，中国的宣传部们紧急向各新闻单位传达中办和国办的11号
文件，内容是《关于当前稳定工作的通知》，摘要如下：
20 April, Chinese Propaganda Ministry urgently dispatches document 11 to assorted news agencies, contents “Concerning present work to continue stability”, abstract as follows:
一、关于当前形势的分析：
1. About the present situation, an analysis:
（一）今年是“6．4”15周年，境外一些民运分子比较活跃，他们准
备在“6．4”纪念日期间采取闯关行动，准备强行闯关；
（二）关于自由化的问题，主要是否定共产党领导，否定社会主义制
度，搞所谓的“民间学习”，还有一些敌对势力把刑事案件政治化；
（三）“法轮功”邪教分子搞破坏活动；
（四）互联网上各种有害信息的传播；
（五）群体事件比较突出，主要表现在拆迁、上访等方面；
（六）境外敌对势力利用宗教等渠道（印刷品、互联网），拉拢青少年
或在学校里开展学术活动、助学等等，搞非法活动；
（七）香港问题。
(一 This year is the 15th anniversary of "6/4", cross border/external democracy groups are increasingly active in preparing to commemoration "6/4", and are preparing to cross the border;
(二 Currently the focus of liberalization is, whether or not the Communist party is in a position to lead, whether or not to continue the system of socialism and the so-called “popular study”, additionally hostile elements have been observing judicial cases and politicizing them;
(三 Acts of terrorism committed by FLG members;
(四 Harmful information has been disseminated on the Internet;
(五 There have been prominent demonstrations by the masses, principally over forced relocations, and seeking petitions for help;
(六 Hostile foreign powers are taking advantage of religious channels (print media, Internet) to win over young people, and using school activities, tutoring etc, to help (students/youths) in carry out illegal activities.
(七 The Hong Kong Problem;
重点是关于“6．4”、关于“法轮功”、关于群体事件”。
Key Point are about “6/4”, about FLG, about mass events (mass protests)
二、各级各部门要做好防范措施：
2. Every level, every department, must take these preventative measures.
（一）坚决制止民运分子闯关入境；
（二）严密防范各种活动；
（三）严密防范敌对分子利用互联网搞活动；
（四）严密防范群体事件的发生；
（五）严密防范“法轮功”邪教组织搞破坏；
（六）严密防范重点部门和人员的安全；
（七）严密防范一些影响安定团结的因素。
(一 Determined system to stop pro-democracy group from crossing the border;
(二 Tight protection to guard (against) any type of (demonstration) activity;
(三 Tight protection to guard (against) any type of activity on the Internet;
(四 Tight protection to guard (against) mass protests;
(五 Tight protection to guard (against) acts of destruction by the nefarious FLG cult;
(六 Tight protection to guard the security of members of key departments；
(七 Tight protection to guard (against) element impacting on stability and unity;
三、当前要狠抓的五项工作：
3. Immediate fierce promotion of 5 key works
（一）坚持正确的理论和责任意识；
（二）切实加强情报工作，掌握各种活动情况；
（三）坚持正确的舆论导向，有效地防范境外敌对分子的破坏，坚决
不发任何和中央政策不一致的任何言论；
（四）突出重点，有针对性地做好防范控制工作；
（五）减少群体性上访。
(一 Uphold proper thinking and responsible ideas;
(二 Practically reinforce information-gathering work; gain a better understanding of all activities and situation;
(三 Continue to manipulate public opinion to the correct form, have an effective defense against destructive external forces, resolutely never express any opinions that are not consistent with the central (Government’s) opinion;
(四 Give prominence to key points, direct protective measure towards them;
(五 Reduces mass petitions by the people;
(同时要注意境外民运分子与境内媒体个别编辑、记者的联系，一旦发现，立即报告
At the same time (you) must focus (your) attention on relationships between external democracy groups and individual editors and journalists inside (China); once discovered, inform on them immediately.
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journalist Shi Tao and Yahoo!: an example of how a company can operate in foreign countries
The
fact is well known: Shi Tao, 37, a journalist who worked for the
Contemporary Business News in Hunan province, was arrested and
sentenced in April to 10 years in prison. He was charged with
"divulgating State secrets abroad". At a meeting in April 2004, a local
communist party boss gave him and his colleagues instructions on how to
cover the 15th anniversary of Tiananmen Square's facts. Shi took notes
and, with his private e-mail account, sent off a desription of what
he'd been told to a pro-democracy website run by a Chinese emigre in
America. Two weeks ago, Shi Tao was arrested and sentenced for doing
so. You can find the original chinese-english verdict here.
His e-amil address was a Yahoo! account. When Chinese government asked
informations, Yahoo! complied with their request. So, practically,
Yahoo! helped to put in jail a Chinese citizen, violating his
privacy. Questioned about this decision at a conference in China,
Yahoo!'s co-founder, Jerry Yang, declared to the International Herald Tribune: "To be doing business in
China, or anywhere else in the world, we have to comply with local
laws".
Things are two: business are more important than civil rights and
privacy for an American company. Nothing strange. The other is that an
American company can operate abroad without respecting those rights it
must respect in America with American citizen, or in any other western
country.
Before complying with local laws, Yahoo! halped China to become more authoritarian.
I remind you that Yahoo! signed in 2002 the Public Pledge on
self-discipline in Internet industry (you can read the full text here):
according to aticle 3, "The basic principles of Self-regulation
and Professional Ethics for Internet the Industry are being patriotic
observance of law, equitableness, trustworthiness and honesty", and there's nothing wrong.
But read articles 8 and 10 and find out how they are each other in a somewhat contrast (is the 8 ever respected?):
8. We pledge to respect the lawful
rights and interests of consumers and we shall protect the
confidentiality of their information. We pledge not to use the
information provided by users for any activity other than those as
promised to users, and no technology or any other advantage may be used
to infringe upon the lawful rightsand interests of the consumers or
users.
10. Internet access service providers pledge
to inspect and monitor information on domestic and foreign websites
when it provides access to those sites and refuse access to those
websites that disseminate harmful information.
Yahoo!, on the other hand, agrees on censoring its Chinese search engine cn.yahoo.com.
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Yang Jianli: 1249 days in prison in China
1249
days in jail since Yang Jianli, a Chinese-American citizen, has been
arrested in China in 2002, with charges of espionage and illegal
entering in the country. He is one of the so called cyber-dissident in
jail in the world and China is the biggest prison for them. He moved to
America after the Tiananmen Square facts in 1989, earned two Ph.D.s and
founded the Foundation for China in the 21st Century. For his political
activism, his aim to introduce democracy in China and his articles
published on the net, Jianli was blacklisted by Chinese government. So,
once he came back to his country to investigate about some strikes in
the North-East, he was immediately arrested by authorities.
According
to Reporters sans frontières there are 70 cyber-dissidents imprisoned for their activities on the net: 62 are in China.
I met on the net months ago Christina Fu, Jianli's wife. She told me
her husband's story. She told me they have two children in America,
Aaron and Anita, who haven't seen their father since four years. She
told me Jianli, before been charged, was in prison until 2004: two
years without a sentence. He could saw his lawyer only twice and he
suffered even a stroke last year. She's very worried.
If you want to know more about Yang Jianli, visit the blog his wife is writing.
See also my photoblog.
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Somalia between polio and humanitarian emergency
According
to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), a new
anti-polio campaign in Somalia will start in the capital, Mogadishu,
and will be launched in the whole country on September 28 (the sixth in
this year). Two new cases have been confirmed and 20 suspected are
under investigation. So immunization teams would move from house to
house vaccinating children under age five.
Somalia is polio free since 2002, but there is growing concern that outbreaks in near Ethiopia would spread.
Anyhow, situation seems under control.
Less controlled, on the other hand, seems humanitarian emergency.
Always according to Ocha, more than 100,000 people in in southwestern
Gedo district are in urgent need of assistance. The Ocha warning is
that about 1 million people in the whole country coul be in need of
help.
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potential avian influenza beats malaria epidemic
Nowadays
avian influenza (well known as bird flu) seems to be the biggest worry
in the world. It was first identified in Italy more than 100 years ago
and now occurs worldwide: outbreaks among poultry (the most affected
are chicken, turkeys, quails, ducks and geese) have occurred in China, Japan, Vietnam,
South Korea, Thailand, Pakistan, Indonesia, US and Cambodia. But why people are so anxious?
The fact is that bird flu can also spread to humans on close contact.
So western contries fear an epidemic coming from the East and put out
an alert on the "new" disease.
But the "old" malaria interests nobody. Expecially if it's spreading in
Africa. A Unicef update on Ethiopia says that about six millions people,
expecially children, are threatened by a potential malaria epidemic.
According to a study published in the East African Medical Journal in
April, six million people malaria cases have occurred in Ethiopia during
the last epidemic, between April to December 2003, with up to 114,000
fatalities.
To avoid a new epidemic, Unicef needs - the update says - about $22
million, to fund a nationwide polio immunization drive and reach people
in need of water. Malaria cases rose from June to August and renewed
fears of a new epidemic.
See my fotoblog here
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matteo mohorovicich
