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May 11 2012
Mozambique: Space for Human Rights Debate Launched on Facebook
A new online space that aims to “sharpen critical awareness and the promotion of citizenship, human rights and access to information” in Mozambique was launched today, May 11, on Facebook by CODD - a Center of Studies and Promotion of Citizenship, Human Rights and the Environment. On their welcoming message they say: “get ready for major ‘battles' and debates about Mozambique”.
May 05 2012
Brazil Approves Racial Quotas in Higher Education
This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.
[All links lead to Portuguese language pages except when otherwise noted]
On April 26, 2012, in a plenary session of the Supreme Court of Brazil, the adoption of racial quota policies in higher education institutions across the country was unanimously approved. With this approval, universities, colleges and educational institutions are legally allowed to devote a specific percentage of places for students of African and/or indigenous origin.
The approval of the policy brings up again the controversial debate [en] on racial discrimination and racial inequality in the country, promoting important reflections and divided opinions.
Commemoration of the judgment of the Supreme Court on affirmative action. Photo of Emily Silberstein (CC BY 2.0).
The measure is a reflection of affirmative action policies being constitutional in the country since democratization in 1988. Diana Costa, on her blog, says that the “discriminatory process [that] affects people negatively are marked by stereotypes that consolidate them as socially inferior, incapable, degenerated, etc., allocating them in situations of sub-citizenship and civil risk.”
She also explains what affirmative actions are:
É um conjunto de políticas que compreendem que, na prática, as pessoas não são tratadas igualmente e, consequentemente, não possuem as mesmas oportunidades, o que impede o acesso destas a locais de produção de conhecimento e de negociação de poder.
The blog Religiões Afro Brasileiras e Política (Afro Brazilian Religions and Policy) says that the result of affirmative action policies in the country through the quota system has already shown results of “a notorious growth in the proportion of graduated blacks and pardos [approximate translation: brown, coloured]”, between 1999-2009, according to IBGE data (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).
The University of Brasilia (UNB) was the first educational institution to adopt the measure when, in 2004, it started reserving 20% of its university places exclusively for blacks, and some other amount for Indians, without the entry requirement of taking the regular university exam. The Democrats Political Party (DEM) started a lawsuit against UNB in 2009 for considering the racial quota system a kind of racial court (to judge people's race by the colour of their skin). But since UNB adopted the measure, several other higher education institutions also started adopting the quota system.
To make the search process easier, the NGO Educafro provides on its website a complete list of institutions offering quotas for public school students, black students, indigenous students or students with disabilities.
#CotasSim vs. #CotasNao (#YesQuotas vs. #NoQuotas)
Many people celebrated the unanimous approval of the adoption of the quota policy. During the vote, the Supreme Court ministers themselves were very positive about the decision. According to Minister Joaquim Barbosa, the only black among those who voted, “these measures are intended not only to combat manifestations of blatant discrimination, but discrimination in fact, that is absolutely rooted in society, and so ingrained, people do not perceive it”, reported G1.
Photo #YesQuotas from @PriscilaPila on Twitter.
Journalist and teacher Jeso Carneiro also celebrated the decision. In his blog, he said that:
O STF (…) honrou sua importante missão de defender a supremacia da Constituição. A decisão da corte máxima do país é uma vitória de toda a sociedade brasileira, especialmente do movimento negro, que, desde a década de 1980, vem defendendo com firmeza a aplicação de ações afirmativas para combater o racismo e a exclusão social dos negros neste país.
On Twitter, through the hashtag #CotasSim, statements of support were intense.
Musician Sany Pitbull (@SanyPitbull) wrote:
A elite Branca brasileira tem uma divida à ser paga aos negros, aos pobres, aos índios e aos nordestinos desse país #cotassim
Blogger and historian Conceição Oliveira (@maria_fro) added:
Cotas não inventa a racialização bando de hipócritas, a racialização já existe em um país racista que segrega jovens negros #CotasSim
However, not everyone agrees with the decision of the Supreme Court. Videoblogger Daniel Fraga argues in this video that in a country such as Brazil, where racial mixing is very high, it would be difficult to correctly define who really is black or white. This decision would be made based on a “visual criteria,” and mentions UNB's case of two twin brothers, one considered white and the other black, the latter gaining a quota place at the university.
Others argue that the quotas would only be an easy way out for the poor public primary and secondary education system, a claim refuted in an article published by the Federal University of Minas Gerais, which says that “it is a big mistake to think that in the field of democratic public policies, advances are produced by sequential steps: first, improve basic education, and then democratize the university. Both challenges are urgent and need to be taken emphatically and simultaneously.”
The approval also generated racist statements. On April 29, a shop in front of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) had a wall spray-painted with the words: “UFMG will turn black.”
Blog Brasil Escola explains the importance of a better understanding of racism in Brazil for understanding affirmative action policies in the country:
(…) a miscigenação não exclui os preconceitos. Nossa última constituição coloca a discriminação racial como um crime inafiançável. Entre nossas discussões proferimos, ao mesmo tempo, horror ao racismo e admitimos publicamente que o Brasil é um país racista. Tal contradição indica que nosso racismo é velado e, nem por isso, pulsante. Queremos ter um discurso sobre o negro, mas não vemos a urgência de algum tipo de mobilização a favor da resolução desse problema. Ultimamente, os sistemas de cotas e a criação de um ministério voltado para essa única questão demonstram o tamanho do nosso problema. Ainda aceitamos distinguir o negro do moreno, em uma aquarela de tons onde o último ocupa uma situação melhor que a do primeiro. Desta maneira, criamos a estranha situação onde “todos os outros podem ser racistas, menos eu… é claro!”. Isso nos indica que o alcance da democracia é um assunto tão difícil e complexo como a nossa relação com o negro no Brasil.
The discussion will continue in the coming weeks since, besides this action, the Supreme Court is yet to decide the constitutionality of racial quotas when applied to a student who attended public school. It is worth noting that quotas are not mandatory - every educational institution may choose to adopt the policy or not. The University of São Paulo (USP), the largest higher education institution in Brazil, for example, does not use it.
This post is part of our special coverage Indigenous Rights.
May 04 2012
Angola: Loss of a Human Rights Advocate
Megan Eardley, from Africa is a Country, published a translation of the condolences statement from Angolan human rights group OMUNGA [pt], on the assassination of one of their volunteers, Júlio Kussema. Eardley writes about OMUNGA's work and adds that “protesters (…) face police intimidation and alarming levels of state violence this spring”.
Brazil: Blogging Carnival on the New Forestry Code
Global Voices in Portuguese launched today, May 4, a blogging carnival [pt] about the new Forestry Code, recently approved by the Brazilian Senate. While some claim that agribusiness is hindered by the existing Code and Brazil is missing out on opportunities for economic development, environmental activists demand for a “zero deforestation” bill.
April 30 2012
Guinea-Bissau: International Reactions to the Military Coup
Following the military coup in Guinea-Bissau, on April 12, Angolan Foreign Policy Professor Belarmino Van-Dúnem wrote an analysis [pt] on the roles of the Armed Forces and the international community. ECOWAS talks to restore civilian rule during the weekend resulted on the decision to impose sanctions on the military junta. Former Prime Minister Gomes Junior and Interim President Raimundo Pereira were released on April 27.
Portugal: Eviction Prior to Freedom Day Awakens Squatting Movement
This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis
As the pent-up frustrations of citizens in Portugal keep growing a year since the international “bailout” of the country's public debt, the annual celebration of Freedom Day on April 25 marking the Carnation Revolution that ended a 41-year dictatorship in 1974, gained renewed momentum.
A few days earlier, on April 19, the forceful eviction of a self managed community center in Porto, meant that many would celebrate April 25 in solidarity with those evicted, as well as with others struggling under the ongoing economic crisis.
Illustrating the tension over this new inspiration for marking Freedom Day, the historic Association April 25 (founded by the military who staged the 1974 coup) refused [pt] to participate in the traditional, government organized celebrations this year in protest over national policies and harsh austerity measures that the former soldiers believe go against the democratic ideals of the Carnation Revolution. They, along with many others, participated in unofficial celebrations instead.
A man with carnations, a symbol of Freedom Day (Lisbon, 25/04/2012). Photo by Fernando Mendes copyright Demotix
"Don't let yesterday's carnation carve today's revolution". Photo by Filipa Sequeira on Facebook. Porto (25/04/2012)
Thirty-five percent of youth in Portugal are unemployed despite austerity measures imposed by the European Commission, Central European Bank and International Monetary Fund. And while 26 families a day have their homes repossessed [pt] by the bank, there are thousands of abandoned housing facilities in the major cities of Portugal (see the overview for Lisbon (pdf)). The Food Bank Against Famine recently announced [pt] that it has reached a critical point concerning its ability to attend to the growing number of families and institutions who need food.
Against this backdrop, the city government's order to evict Es.Col.A (an acronym for self-managed collective space, meaning “school”), where communal meals, recreational activities, and after-school classes were provided for free in a squatted public building of an impoverished neighborhood in Porto, has triggered people's indignation on a national scale.
As João Martins (@jpsmartins) said on Twitter:
@jpsmartins: Eu sei o que responder quando me perguntarem onde estava no 25 de Abril: na #fontinha
Reoccupy march
Despite a government announcement of zero tolerance from the police during Freedom Day demonstrations, supporters of Es.Col.A supported by the Clown Brigade, an improvised sound system, rallied to the Fontinha neighborhood in Porto to reoccupy the building.
Protestors singing remixed traditional songs in front of the City Hall, Porto (25/04/2012). Photo by José Ferreira (used with permission)
Around 2,000 people joined the march, as the following video published on YouTube by olhorobot shows:
As the march arrived at Fontinha, citizens took over the school once again:
The opening of the boarded up doors and windows at Es.Col.A. Photo by José Ferreira (used with permission)
And then the celebrations of April 25 proceeded in the school yard:
Citizen photo reports that summarize the day can be seen in Renato Roque's album on Picasa, on Indymedia's special coverage, on the blogs of Gui Castro Felga, Joana Maltez and José Pacheco Pereira, and all around Facebook.
Photo by Jorge Almeida on Facebook (used with permission)
Void in the aftermath
The next morning, Es.Col.A was boarded up once again. Gui Castro Felga blogged [pt] about what happened:
Photo by Joana Maltez
desafiando claramente todos os ocuparam ontem o es.col.a, a CMP entrou pela escola vazia adentro e rebentou com canalizações, sanitas, arrancou portas e emparedou, já não com chapas, mas com tijolos e cimento, e cortou a água e a luz ao edifício.
Theatre company Visões Úteis (Useful Visions) [pt], located on the same street as Es.Col.A, states on Facebook:
A nossa rua, quando chegam os ocupantes da Escola da Fontinha, enche-se de pessoas a sorrir; ouve-se música e palavras como “sonho”, “cultura” e “comunidade”.
A nossa rua, depois de vir a polícia com os seus tapumes, enche-se de um silêncio baço e temeroso. Como se tivesse levado uma grande descompostura por tocar em algo que não lhe pertence.
After the police comes with their enclosures, our street is filled with a dull and fearful silence.
As if [the school] had gotten a great scolding for touching something that does not belong.
“What if it becomes fashion?“
Celebrating the 25th of April in solidarity with Es.Col.A, protestors in Coimbra and Lisbon ended up squatting new spaces. In Coimbra, a public garden is being set up in the city center, while in Lisbon, a group of activists occupied an abandoned building in the street of São Lázaro. Their manifesto was published on the blog Spectrum:
Antes emparedado que ocupado parece ser o último argumento de um poder que conseguiu sem grande esforço esvaziar as cidades dos seus próprios habitantes, empurrados para os subúrbios ou mesmo para a rua. São centenas de milhares de fogos vazios, deixados ao abandono. Abandono que também vemos nos olhos de quem fez da rua a sua casa. Cada vez mais olhares de abandono, cada vez mais abandono nos olhares. Decretamos, neste dia que se quer de liberdade, tolerância zero a este processo de requalificação urbana, que à custa da miséria de muitos ergue mansões e hotéis para alguns.
This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis
April 28 2012
Angola: Youth Demonstration Against Alcoholism Violently Repressed
According to Facebook reports, today's youth demonstration against alcoholism, prostitution and domestic violence (April 28), was violently repressed, informed [pt] the blog Angola Resistente. On April 23, an opinion article [pt] from Makuta Nkondo stated that in a year of elections, the ruling party since 1975, MPLA, organizes “food and drinks marathons” in order to please and distract the voters.
April 26 2012
Brazil: Activists Protest in Memory of Military Dictatorship
Earlier this month, a number of cities throughout the country held both real and virtual events to remember Brazil's Military Dictatorship (1964-1985).
Brazil's president recently sanctioned the law to create a Truth Committee to oversee the opening of the dictatorship's secret files (reported by Global Voices in March 2011), to reveal the location of the bodies of dozens of political prisoners and guerilla fighters and to shed light on the country's somber past.
"Impunity" - a Twitpic cartoon by Carlos Latuff
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights of the Organization of American States (OAS) recently pressured Brazil to revise the country's Amnesty Law, a law instated by the then military regime to provide amnesty for its various crimes, such as torture, kidnapping, concealing bodies and murdering opponents.
Amidst the polemics involved in reviewing the Amnesty Law and the Truth Committee, activists decided to hold protests and to voice opinions on the need to punish the Dictatorship's criminals and to fully open the still classified files.
Protest in Rio and the Cordão da Mentira [Fool's Block]
Projection of the image of reporter Vladimir Herzog, killed by the Dictatorship 1975, on the façade of the Military Club. Photo by Moana Maywall during protest actions organized Beatriz Seigner, Moana Mayall, Thiago Dezan, Luis Felipe and the group Fora do Eixo. Photo reprinted with permission.
On March 29, a group of at least 300 protesters gathered in front of the Military Club in downtown Rio de Janeiro where a group of reserve soldiers and wistful politicians from the so-called Lead Years had also gathered to “commemorate” the military coup of 1964. The actual date of the coup was April 1 of that year, but soldiers and officers have attempted to rewrite history on account of the actual date's corresponding to April Fool's Day.
Cartoonish Carlos Latuff posted a video evidencing police violence against the protestors, siding with the soldiers and officers who defended the Military's decades of torture and assassinations. He writes [pt]:
A polícia militar, como de costume, fez farta distribuição de gás lacrimogêneo, spray de pimenta e muita truculência. Ex-militares como o tenente-coronel Lício Maciel, que participou de operações no Araguaia, e o general Nilton Cerqueira, responsável pela execução de Carlos Lamarca, foram escorraçados pelos manifestantes
The youth who protested were beaten and wounded [pt] by the police, and many are receiving death threats [pt] from soldiers and officers, as exposed by Felipe Garcez in a post reproduced [pt] in the magazine Vírus Planetário, on Facebook.
On April 1, nearly 400 citizens protested [pt] the commemoration of the coup:
O Cordão da Mentira vem por meio desta repudiar o evento de celebração do golpe militar de 1964, realizado no Círculo Militar do RJ, e a ação violenta da Polícia Militar do RJ contra os manifestantes no dia 29/3/12. O Cordão classifica tais acontecimentos como, no mínimo, lamentáveis.
In his blog, Professor Chico Bicudo summarizes [pt] the motives of the protest:
Comemorar o golpe e a ditadura militar significa também comemorar a censura, as prisões, os assassinatos, os desaparecimentos, a tortura, a barbárie.
Photo of the protest. In the forefront are the Mothers of May, who headed the parade. Photo by the author. Unrestricted use.
The protest lasted throughout Sunday afternoon and referenced a number of symbols and landmarks related to the Military Dictatorship, as professor Pádua Fernandes explains [pt] in his blog:
A multidão desceu a Rua da Consolação, entrou na Maria Antônia, onde foi feita uma homenagem ao estudante José Guimarães, morto pelo CCC (Comando de Caça aos Comunistas) em 1968; desceu até a imagem da Nossa Senhora que a TFP [Tradição, Família e Propriedade, grupo de extrema-direita católico e base ideológica para o golpe - Nota GV] preserva na Rua Martim Francisco. Em seguida, na Rua Fortunato, outra homenagem, ao militante da ALN Marco Antonio Braz (…).
Depois de parar na frente de um jornal paulista [Folha de São Paulo - Nota GV], (…), a multidão seguiu e chegou ao prédio do antigo DOPS, hoje Estação Pinacoteca (que abriga o Memorial da Resistência), quase às dezoito horas.
Exposé
On March 26, a group consisting of militants from a variety of social movements and collectively called the Popular Youth Insurrection [pt] held a protest in a number of cities throughout Brazil [pt] against former military officers associated with torture, disappearances and assassinations during Brazil's Military Dictatorship. The goals of the movement is to reveal the addresses of these former officers and soldiers now accused of crimes against humanity and who remain unpunished on account of the Amnesty Law.
Reporter and blogger Rodrigo Vianna accompanied [pt] the protest in São Paulo in front of the company owned by Davi dos Santos Araújo, known as “Captain Lisbon”:
Photo of protest actions in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. Unrestricted use.
Davi, na verdade, nunca foi capitão. Era delegado de polícia, trabalhou no DOI-CODI em São Paulo e é acusado de torturas, assassinatos e abusos sexuais durante a ditadura.
Saturday, April 7 is officially Coroners Day, and the home of coroner and former director of the Coronial Institute, Harry Shibata, in São Paulo's Vila Madalena neighborhood was chosen as the gathering place for a protest attended by nearly 100 people. Blogger and professor Leonardo Sakamoto explains [pt]:
Ele é acusado de ser responsável por falsos atestados de óbito usados para acobertar assassinatos de opositores pela ditadura militar, ignorando marcas deixadas por sessões de tortura e produzindo laudos de acordo com as necessidades dos militares.
Graffiti and protests in front of Shibata's house. Photo by Leonardo Sakamoto. Unrestricted use.
Posters were also put up [pt] throughout the region renouncing the coroner for the atrocities he committed. Members of the Popular Insurrection have been threatened, and a petition has been going around [pt] as a show of solidarity with the movement. Hundreds of people have also posted photos on a number of social networks [pt] with posters and banners in support of the movement.
A video recorded by the alternative newspaper Brasil de Fato:
Concurrently, the blogosphere and Twittersphere saw the 5th collective blogging - #DesarquivandoBR (OpeningTheBrazilianFiles) [pt], with a total of 52 posts by different bloggers. “The main theme [of the blogs] was outrage against the torture, disappearances and impunity,” which lead to the rash of tweets marked with the hashtag #desarquivandoBR (OpeningTheBrazilianFiles) on the evening of March 31 and April 1.
April 24 2012
Brazil: Journalist and Blogger Executed in São Luís, Maranhão
[All external links in Portuguese except when otherwise stated]
On Monday night, April 23, 2012, Brazilian journalist and blogger Décio Sá was executed by at least two shots to his head inside a bar in one of the most crowded parts of the city of São Luis, in the northeastern state of Maranhão. Blogger Candido Cunha explains:
Segundo testemunhas, ele estava sentado quando um homem caminhando apontou uma arma e atirou duas vezes contra a cabeça do jornalista, que morreu na hora. Depois, o matador saiu caminhando e fugiu.
Print of Décio's personal blog, with his last post
And adds:
Décio Sá era repórter do jornal O Estado do Maranhão. No seu blog pessoal, colecionava milhares de acessos e algumas polêmicas pelo estilo crítico dos seus textos e dos assuntos que explorava. Ele dedicava o trabalho a cobrir a política do Maranhão e seu blog era o mais acessado no estado.
Sources differ, some say he was shot twice, other that he was shot three times and also up to six shots, four in the head and two in the back.
He was at the Avenida Litorânea (Coastal Highway), one of the most important and crowded arteries in the city of São Luis, which is described by blogger and journalist Rogério Tomaz Jr, on Twitter:
@rogeriotomazjr: Litorânea é um dos principais espaços de lazer de São Luís. (em tese) Há viaturas da polícia circulando o tempo todo! Execução lá é surreal!
The execution itself, in a crowded place, with clear political content, is worrying enough says the police officer Caetano Pacheco. However, online debate also addressed Décio Sá's ties with the Sarney family, which has ruled the state for decades: José Sarney [en], head of the family is currently the president of the Senate, in Brasília, and his daughter, Roseana Sarney [en], is the governor of Maranhão.
Twitter user Arthur Santos from São Luis, recalls:
@arthurxside: nesse ponto é importante lembrar que Décio Sá era profundamente ligado à família Sarney.
Though he believes it is unlikely that the Sarneys would have been connected to Décio Sá's death, he developed an alternative theory and posted it on Twitter.
Décio worked for O Estado newspaper of the Mirante Group - a communication network owned by Sarney family encompassing radio and TV stations affiliated with Globo Network [en]. He blogged on the Blog do Décio and constantly attacked powerful political figures in his state.
Rogério Tomaz Jr adds:
@rogeriotomazjr: Crime organizado do Maranhão, que deve a Sarney sua perpetuação há décadas, faz mais uma vítima. Desta vez, um jornalista.
Historian from Maranhão, Wagner Cabral (@wagner_cabral), says that “violence and murder against rural workers is a commonplace in Maranhão… As is the violation of human rights” and adds:
@wagner_cabral: Agora a violência alcança novo patamar quando blogueiro ligado à oligarquia é assassinado na capital… a sensibilidade da sociedade explode
@wagner_cabral: Now the violence has reached new heights when a blogger linked to the oligarchy is murdered in the capital … the sensitivity of society explodes
Journalist Ricardo Noblat posted on Twitter and on his blog a picture of Decio's body just after the execution, and the same was done by the Mirante group, who posted a picture of his body on its homepage. The initiatives to link or put the picture of the journalist's body on the homepage of a site/blog were heavily criticized on the Internet.
Journalist Rogério Tomaz Jr challenged Noblat to “list ONE convincing argument to justify posting photos of corpses of people executed on his blog” and asked Décio's family to sue him.
According to Noblat's Twitter account, the gun used for the execution was .40 caliber, for the exclusive use of the police.
International NGO Reporters Without Borders, puts Brazil in 99th position in the ranking of press freedom
Portugal: Citizens Prepare Peaceful Protests for April 25
Though peaceful protests are scheduled for April 25 throughout Portugal (a national holiday that marks the end of dictatorship in 1974), mainstream media reported [pt] that “police prepares zero tolerance”. For Miguel Cardima from the blog Arrastão, the news intends [pt] to “insufflate fear” and to “justify violence in anticipation”. In Porto, citizens have organized Meditation for Change and a Clown Brigade.
April 23 2012
Portugal: Video of Guinea-Bissau coup protest in Lisbon
Youtube user MinisterioDaVerdade published a video of a large parade on Saturday by Guinea-Bissaun residents of Lisbon, and their Portuguese families and friends, protesting the military coup which took place April 12. Marchers occupied the streets of Lisbon's Baixa neighborhood. Signs read “We have a consensus: No to dictatorship” and simply “peace.”
Brazil: Passer by Injured and Arrested by Police in Demonstration
Brazilian blogger Conceição Oliveira reproduces [pt] a Facebook note [pt] from Pedro Urizzi (an actor from São Paulo), who denounces that he was injured and arrested by the Military Police when he was passing by a demonstration against corruption on April 21, 2012, on his way for dinner. The detention came after he made a call for caution, when he noticed there were children near an armed policeman.
April 21 2012
Sao Tome and Principe: Memories of a Lonely Navigator
Follow the blog Odisseia nos Mares (Odysseys in the Seas) [pt] and navigate through the stories of Jorge Trabulo Marques - a retired Portuguese journalist and photographer who lived in São Tomé and Príncipe for 13 years during colonial times. Trabulo blogs on his memories of São Tomé, including lonesome adventures in the sea, trying to cross the Atlantic to Brazil.
Angola/Mozambique: Emerging Platforms for Artistic Production
Blog of African contemporary culture Dá Fala shared a call for proposals on Emerging Platforms for Artistic Production in Angola and Mozambique, to be published on an issue of Critical Interventions that will explore “recent scenarios of art platforms as extensions and articulations of state, private, and individual power”, and “networks across media in the visual and performative arts.”
Portugal: ‘You Cannot Evict an Idea' Without Borders
This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis
The violent eviction of a self-managed community center in Porto by the police, on April 19, triggered a wave of solidarity beyond the borders of the former working-class neighborhood of Fontinha, left to oblivion for years.
After fifteen police cars arrived with masked and armed riot police to evict the project (three participants were arrested and five were injured), and emptied the school destroying all material in the building (such as books, computers and furniture), only to board up doors and windows in the end, around 300 people took to the streets in Porto, and several dozens more in Lisbon.
Educational materials and furniture destroyed in the school yard before the garbage truck came. The windows and doors were boarded up afterwards. Photo shared by Antonio Serginho on Facebook.
The events opened the newscasts on TV, and social media was buzzing with reactions; the hashtags #Fontinha and #ocupai trended on Twitter in Portugal.
Building on an idea
Es.Col.A (meaning school) [an acronymn for self-managed collective space, pt] was formed on April 2011 by a group of citizens who squatted a public school that had been abandoned by the municipality of Porto in 2006. Journalist Nuno Ramos de Almeida reported [pt] on April 20 that there are more than 25,000 housing buildings in the city left abandoned (about one in every five, which can be seen in this illustrative photo report) - many of them under the responsibility of the City Hall.
Under the slogan “Free spaces, create alternatives”, the collective proposed to bring back to life a disused building with after-school classes, communal food and recreational activities (ranging from yoga, music and capoeira, to film and debates). All based in principles of self-organization, free accessibility, non-discrimination, and practices of direct democracy and consensus through weekly Popular Assemblies.
Staircase of Es.Col.A. Photo by the Group of Artistic Studies.
Viva Filmes, a video-activism collective from Porto, published a short documentary in which community members tell the story of Es.Col.A to the brink of eviction (with English subtitles):
Poster by Gui Castro Felga
In the beginning of February, the City Hall sent a note of eviction to Es.Col.A, urging the collective to empty the building by the end of March. While Es.Col.A released an open letter [pt] rejecting the eviction, mobilization started under the motto “You cannot evict an idea” (which might have been inspired by the Global Voices post with that same headline about the Bank of Ideas in London, UK, January 2012).
Under pressure, the City Hall sent a proposal of a new contract, which was also rejected [pt] as it simply implied the legitimation of a later date for eviction of the collective - scheduled for the end of June.
The directions from the City Hall were clear: if not signed by April 12, from April 13 on, Es.Col.A would be removed. On that day Anonymous Portugal released a video in support.
The expulsion would eventually take place in the morning of April 19, as around 120 riot police entered the building [another video from a member on the ground here], and put an end to the work of one year of the community.
The City Hall issued a statement [pt] citing the necessity to “enforce laws” and calling the collective's squatting of the school “abusive” and “savage”, forcing authorities to intervene “coercively.” The statement made mention of the video above calling it “threatening” and “provoking disturbances and challenging [government] institutions.”
Meanwhile, a hiphop music video made by the youth of Fontinha sums up both the activities that used to take place in Es.Col.A, the April 19 events, and the popular reaction in Porto that followed:
Solidarity exceeds borders
Sympathy is coming from many cities in Portugal, where citizens have organized demonstrations via Facebook, such as the following that took place in Lisbon, in the evening of April 19:
A call on Facebook to make the cause go transnational was made by M31 (March 31), an European collective against capitalism that gathers groups across 12 countries. Messages of support, and in some cases translations, came from Spain (through the independent media collective La Haine [es]), Sweden (the Anonymous collective @AnonOpsSweden), United Kingdom (Socialist Workers Party via @tedsplitter), Australia (@OccupySydney), Greece [el], Poland [pl], and Germany, where an open letter to the Mayor and the city government of Porto was published on Indymedia:
Es.Col.A's Assembly, April 20. Photo by Renato Roque on Facebook.
You should know that the project and its activities are followed and supported with sympathy of many people outside Portugal. (…)
We ask that you reverse the eviction and repair the damage. Negotiate immediately with Es.col.a.-collective to reach peaceful and socially just solutions!
A petition [pt] is in circulation. The Assembly of Es.Col.A gathered on the evening of April 20 with around 200 participants, and decided to reoccupy the building on April 25th, a national holiday that represents the end of the dictatorship in Portugal in 1974.
This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis
April 19 2012
Portugal: Community-occupied school violently evicted
Community members resisted eviction from the Es.Col.A in Fontinha [pt] in Porto this morning. The abandoned, disused school was being used by a self-organized collective for after-school classes, recreational activities - watch their story (with English subtitles). While broadcast media report the violent police eviction, protest continues. #Fontinha and #ocupai are the hashtags on Twitter.
April 18 2012
Mozambique: Police Detain Blogger During Mayoral By-Election
Mozambican human rights lawyer and blogger Custodio Duma was detained by the police during mayoral by-election in Inhambane, on April 18, allegedly due to taking photos. Five hours later, he was released. According [pt] to @Verdade newspaper, 53 citizens (mostly supporters of the opposition party, MDM) were arrested during the scrutiny.
April 16 2012
Brazil: Homage to the Victims of the Amazon in Washington, D.C.
This post is part of our special coverage Forest Focus: Amazon.
On Monday 9 April, 2012, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff made an official visit to the United States capital Washington, D.C. At approximately 10am local time, around 100 people gathered in front of the Brazilian embassy bearing images and messages in an act of solidarity with the Amazonian casualties.
The activists wanted to draw international attention to the Brazilians who were killed and who are being persecuted for their work to protect the Amazon rainforest, and promise Brazil further criticism [pt]. We invite you to learn a little more about these Brazilians and their causes.
Zé Cláudio, Maria do Espírito Santo and Laísa, “with a bullet in the head”
A Zé Cláudio poster. Photo by Felipe Milanez (used with permission).
The Brazilian journalist Felipe Milanez was in Washington and shared photos of the preparations and the protest itself on his Twitter account (@felipedjeguaka). Milanez has been one of the most active voices in giving visibility to those victims in the Amazon region.
He has often been compared to the conservationist and environmentalist José Cláudio da Silva, who was murdered with his wife, Maria do Espírito Santo, on 24th May 2011 near the city of Nova Ipixuna, Pará. Six months previously Zé Cláudio, as he was known, explained during a presentation on TEDx Amazônia that illegal loggers were causing a threat in the region and that he was living “with a bullet in the head”- he could be murdered at any time.
In November 2011, Milanez and Vice magazine released the documentary Toxic: Amazônia, about both the defence of the rainforest and the abundance of illegal loggers in Nova Ipixuna.
On 9 February, Maria's sister, teacher Laísa Santos Sampaio, was at the United Nations in New York to receive a posthumous tribute to the couple in a ceremony that closed the International Year of Forests. Laísa returned to live in the settlement Praialta Piranheira, in Nova Ipixuna, despite receiving death threats.
Felipe Milanez issued [pt] a petition on 12 February on Twitter demanding the authorities protect Laísa:
Laisa chega hoje a noite em Maraba. E teme ser morta! Abaixo-assinado pela proteção imediata de Laisa Sampaio http://t.co/qAvLBScw
Among the posters displayed in the protest, all produced by the artist César Maxit, was one saying Laísa: “I want to live.”.
"The Amazon and its people want to live". Posters with photos of Maria do Espírito Santo, Zé Cláudio da Silva and Chico Mendes, an environmentalist murdered in Acre in 1988. Photo by Felipe Milanez (used with permission).
Nilcilene de Lima, Dinhana Dink and the threat of gunmen
Nilcilene: I want to live. Photo by Felipe Milanez (used with permission).
Nilcilene Miguel de Lima was also not forgotten. After receiving death threats from land grabbers and illegal loggers since 2009 from the city of Lábrea, Amazonas, she now has protection from the National Public Security Force. In retaliation for her complaints of land invasions and tree thefts, Nilcilene was beaten and her house was burned.
In a Global Voices post from March 2012, the link between deaths and the agrarian economy in the country was discussed.
On 30 March, 27-year-old Dinhana Dink, who worked closely with Nilcilene, was murdered in a village in Nova Califórnia, Rondônia, where her family had recently moved. According to report agency A Pública [pt], Dinhana had informed on gunmen who raided, attacked and killed farmers in the region.She was with one of her three children, six-year-old Tiago, when she was shot in the chest in the early hours of the morning.
Several families who are close to Nilcilene left Lábrea, since the Amazonian town has no policing. It is the illegal loggers and their gunmen who exercise de facto power.
Belo Monte hydroelectric plant and Rio+20
There are also criticisms of the hydroelectric plant in Belo Monte, which is still under construction on the river Xingu, in Pará, which is set to have the 3rd largest capacity in the world. In 2011, indigenous and riverside communities in the region of Volta Grande do Xingu, as well as other cities both in Brazil and the rest of the world, said ‘no' to the plant [pt] because of its social and environmental impact.
"Protest in front of the Brazilian embassy, in Washington: Stop Belo Monte; Enough Violence! " Photo by Felipe Milanez (used with permission).
Recently, on 29 March, construction was halted following the death of a worker. On 4 April, riot control was called to force the workers to continue the construction but some of them resisted, according to the site [pt] Xingu Vivo.
"Rio-20: where human rights become 'green capitalism'?". Photo by Felipe Milanez (used with permission).
There were also questions raised regarding the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20, scheduled for this June in Rio de Janeiro.
Maria do Espírito Santo and Zé Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva. Photo by Felipe Milanez (used with permission).
Threats to the Guarani-Kaiowá's land
On 8 April, anthropologist Tonico Benites' report [pt] was shared on Facebook several times. It recounts the harassment he suffered while trying to drive to the village of Irajuí, in the municipality of Paranhos, Mato Grosso do Sul, with his wife and children. Benites tells how the man who stopped him in the road knew that he was investigating the Guarani-Kaiowá and he said:
“Você tem filhos e esposa, né? Gosta dela e de teus filhos? hein?! fala?” Respondi que sim.
Então ele passou [a] me ameaçar: “Você vai perder tudo, ela que você ama e [os] filhos que gosta, vai perder, Vai perder carro. Vai perder dinheiro. Tudo você vai perder. Você quer perder tudo? Você quer perder tudo?”, ele repetiu várias vezes essas pergunta.
Then he started to threaten me. “You'll lose everything, the woman and children you love, you're going to lose them. You'll lose your car. Your money. You'll lose everything. Do you want to lose everything? Do you?” He repeated this question a number of times.
As previously reported on Global Voices, the lands of the Guarani-Kaiowá attract greed from cane sugar and soy farmers. On 18 November, 2011, 42 men entered the Tekoha Guaviry camp in Amambaí, Mato Grosso do Sul, and killed the chief Nísio Gomes, a woman and a child, and kidnapped others.
This post is part of our special coverage Forest Focus: Amazon.
April 15 2012
Guinea-Bissau: Military Attack Citizens in Demonstration
According to Simão Mendes National Hospital [pt], the military attacked citizens in a demonstration this morning, April 15, in front of the National Parliament of Guinea-Bissau. On Facebook they have posted a picture of a stabbed patient who arrived at the hospital, “before they [the military] come and take our camera and computer, as they did with the journalist [Aly Silva]”.
April 14 2012
Guinea-Bissau: Hospital Suffers “Collateral Damages” from Coup d'Etat
Simão Mendes National Hospital employees have been posting photos and reports [pt] on their Facebook profile [pt] which illustrate “collateral damages” from the coup d'état that took place on April 12 in Guinea-Bissau. Power cuts, lack of medicine and fuel shortage for ambulances jeopardize the work of doctors, whose moves are limited due to roads being blocked by the military.
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