Dissident's Wife Detained on Trip to Parliament

Dissident's Wife Detained on Trip to Parliament:
Authorities in the Chinese capital have detained the wife of a prominent Hangzhou-based pro-democracy activist after she traveled to Beijing to petition the country's parliament, which is currently in its annual session.

Wang Xue'e, wife of author and democracy activist Lu Gengsong, was detained by officials from the couple's hometown.

"She called me this morning to say ... she had been detained in Beijing by neighborhood committee officials and interceptors," Lu told RFA's Mandarin Service.

Wang had traveled there with fellow Hangzhou petitioners to complain to China's National People's Congress (NPC) about the violation of their human rights by local government officials, the Weiquanwang rights website reported.

"There were more than a dozen people there to detain my wife, who was on her own, and they dragged her away by force," Lu said.

The group was met by Hangzhou officials as soon as they got off the train at Beijing's southern railway station, but only Wang was taken away.

Lu said she had been accompanied to Beijing by around 10 victims of forced eviction from Hangzhou's Jianghan district.

"The district state security police were there, as well as the representative office people, and officers from the police station and the neighborhood committee," he said.

"The Jianghan petitioners tried to hang onto her but they couldn't; they just dragged her away."

Powerless to help

Lu said his wife had been laid of from her former job at a state-owned enterprise, but had never received the payments she was entitled to from her now-bankrupt employers.

He said Wang's detention had resulted in a visit from police to the couple's home. "They wanted me to go and bring her back, but I said that wasn't my duty, because they had done something illegal."

"They stayed and argued with me for more than an hour, then they gave up. But there are still four or five police here right in front of me, watching me."

"They even follow me when I go to the toilet," Lu said.

Liang Liwan, one of the Hangzhou petitioners who traveled with Wang, said they had been powerless to help her.

"We didn't run away, and we tried to talk sense to the district officials, asking them what they wanted. They even said they'd go with us to make the complaint, [and] they did."

Authorities in Hangzhou sentenced Lu to four years’ imprisonment for “incitement to subvert state power” in February 2008, in a trial that Wang said took about 15 minutes.

Chinese police have launched a nationwide security clampdown on anyone considered "sensitive," including rights activists, lawyers and dissidents, during this year's annual meeting of the NPC.

Premier Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao, who have ruled China for the past 10 years, will step down formally at this year's NPC annual session, which began in Beijing on Tuesday.

Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping will be sworn in as president, along with premier-in-waiting Li Keqiang.

Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Lin Jing for the Cantonese Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

Herders Blocked from Protest Marches to Beijing

Herders Blocked from Protest Marches to Beijing:
Authorities in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have blocked and assaulted hundreds of ethnic Mongolian herders who were trying to travel to Beijing to stage protests over land disputes at a meeting of the national legislature, according to a rights group.

In the first of two incidents to take place last week, hundreds of herders from Inner Mongolia’s Durbed (in Chinese, Siziwang) banner (county) gathered at Hohhot train station on March 1 to march nearly 500 kilometers (300 miles) to the nation’s capital, but police arrived and broke up the gathering, the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) said.

They then forced the protesters to return to their homes, SMHRIC said in a statement Wednesday.

“Led by the banner government officials, the local Public Security personnel arrived in Hohhot to stop the herders from visiting Beijing, preventing them from making an appeal to the National People’s Congress regarding their concerns,” the statement said.

“The herders were threatened and taken back to the Banner. Several were physically assaulted by the police dispatches for refusing to follow the order to return home.”

According to reports received Wednesday by SMHRIC from the affected herders of Durbed, 1,767 herders from 470 households had recently been displaced as they were forced to give up their land for the expansion of the Beijing Military Command’s Zureh Military Training Base.

The base, which is the largest of its kind in China, already occupies around 1,000 square kilometers (390 square miles) of the best grassland in Inner Mongolia, according to SMHRIC.

An official document issued by the Durbed government on Nov. 28, 2011 states that the relocation project was carried out in the interest of “national defense” and “social stability,” and pledged a number of benefits and compensations before displacement began, but herders say no adequate solutions have been implemented.

China is preparing for its transition to a new generation of leaders under incoming president Xi Jinping at the annual National People's Congress session in Beijing and security has been particularly tight in the lead-up to the meeting.

Government officials and Public Security personnel confront herders at the train station in Hohhot, March 1, 2013.

Halgait village

In a similar case, around 40 Chinese police and security personnel in a dozen police vehicles descended on Halgait village in eastern Inner Mongolia’s Zaruud (Zhalute) banner on March 2, breaking up another group of herders who intended to march to the county government and on to Beijing to protest the confiscation of their grazing land by local officials.

SMHRIC quoted a resident from Halgait village named Tsengelt as saying that the local government had illegally occupied nearly 40,000 mu (6,600 acres) of grazing land and sold it to a number of Chinese companies without the consent of the local Mongolian herders.

“Two major Chinese mines, namely Lu Huo Coal Mining and Yi Cheng Coal Mining are particularly active in destroying our land and violating our rights. They dump their sewage directly onto the grassland, and brutally beat us herders,” Tsengelt said.

“In 2006, more than 200 people from Yi Cheng Coal Mining came to beat us brutally. Sixteen herders were seriously injured and hospitalized,” he said.

Last year, he said, more than 30 herders had been arrested and detained for more than a week by the Public Security Bureau for protesting the mining operation.

Another herder from Halgait, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the banner government was planning to displace the entire village in April to make way for further mining operations.

“We have lived on this land for generations. We will not move to anywhere, and will resist any form of relocation,” the herder told SMHRIC.

“In fact, we are planning to launch a banner-wide herders’ resistance movement against mining and land appropriation.”

SMHRIC said that additional protests by Mongolian herders had been reported recently from other townships in Zaruud banner, including Bayanbulag, Doloodai, and Gerchuluu.

Internet posts about the two events last week had been removed from blogs and social media, the group said.

A Beijing-based activist named Yu Guofu was accused of being an “anti-revolutionary” and threatened with arrest by local authorities in Zaruud banner for posting information online about the Mar. 2 incident.

SMHRIC called the two movements an “organized response to the ongoing governmental appropriation of their grazing land for military purposes,” adding that herders in Inner Mongolia have been “continuously displaced” without adequate compensation.

Xinjiang Raids Point to Religious Controls

Xinjiang Raids Point to Religious Controls:
An unrelenting police campaign of conducting raids on Muslim Uyghur homes for religious materials has raised concerns about a crackdown on religion in China’s restive northwestern Xinjiang region.
Uyghur residents in counties across the region, which is home to China’s mostly Muslim minority Uyghur ethnic group, have complained that their homes are subject to constant raids, mostly around midnight.
One Uyghur farmer from Kucha county in central Xinjiang said police had raided his home 15 times in 2012, each time during the night.
But he said some of his compatriots had their homes searched about 100 times.
“Some people’s homes were searched more than a hundred times, while others searched only two or three times. It depends on who they suspect, but they search every Uyghur home,” he told RFA’s Uyghur Service, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Police search always at night without notice, and they don’t care if kids are sleeping or not,” he said.
But Xinjiang police defended the raids as necessary to contain what they call illegal religious activities.
A businessman in Chakilik county (in Chinese, Ruoqiang), near Korla city in southeastern Xinjiang, said the raids in his area were not limited to the 100-day “strike hard” campaigns that authorities carry out periodically to sweep up thousands of people suspected of being involved in criminal activities.
There was “no fixed time period” for the raids on the Uyghur homes, he said.
The businessman said that the raids had been frequent since violence between Han Chinese and Uyghurs rocked the Xinjiang capital Urumqi in July 2009, in China’s worst ethnic clashes in decades.
"They have searched every Uyghur home [in the area] since the July incident,” he said, adding that the topic was dangerous for him to discuss.
The 2009 violence prompted a harsh crackdown in the Xinjiang region, where Uyghurs chafe under Beijing’s rule and say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination and oppressive religious controls.
China has vowed to crack down on the “three evils” of terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism in Xinjiang, but experts outside China say Beijing has exaggerated the threat from Uyghur “separatists” and uses its “war on terror” to take the heat off of domestic policies that cause unrest.
Confiscating texts
Another farmer, from Karakash county (in Chinese, Moyu county) of Hotan (Hetian) prefecture in southeastern Xinjiang, said police had repeatedly come to his home looking for illegal religious materials.
“My home was only searched four times in 2012, because each time they came they left empty-handed as they couldn’t find anything,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Under China’s regulations on religious affairs and on publishing, authorities may confiscate religious texts published without authorization, including Korans.
Religious activity is strictly controlled in the Xinjiang region, where children under 18 are forbidden from receiving a religious education or attending mosques, and where religious study in an unsanctioned location is barred.
Uyghurs have been imprisoned for “engaging in illegal religious activities” and “publishing and distributing illegal religious materials,” including after police raids on unsanctioned Islamic schools.
Police asked by RFA about house raids said they were part of efforts to curb religion-related crime.
"We search homes to crack down on illegal religious activities," said a police officer at the Hongjiao police station in Aksu city.
Audio files
The farmer from Kucha said that in recent raids police had allowed Uyghurs to keep commonly available religious materials, if they are “legally published” and sold in bookstores. But authorities had previously confiscated legally published materials as well.
“Before, they confiscated anything related to religion, regardless of whether it was legally published or not, including the Koran or other books on how to pray.”
Despite some easing of the restrictions, authorities were cracking down on audio files of recitations of the Koran or religious songs kept on cell phones, he said.
“It is even impossible for us to download Koran recitations to listen to on our phones. If the police found out we would be arrested right away.”
The raids spark concern about the level of restrictions on the practice of Islam in Xinjiang.
One Uyghur businessman in Ghulja (also known as Ili, or, in Chinese, Yining) in the north of Xinjiang, said police raids have targeted homes of the devout.
"I’ve heard that they search suspected homes, especially those of obviously religious people,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Erkin Sidik, a Uyghur exile and senior engineer at NASA in the U.S., said he believes the policy of searching houses for religious materials is part of a strategy to limit Islamic practice in the region.
“China would like to eradicate the Islamic religious identity of Uyghurs to assimilate them, but using this kind of extreme force will not succeed. On the contrary, it will increase the resistance.”
Reported by Rukiye Turdush for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.

Hun Sen Defends Son’s Nomination

Hun Sen Defends Son’s Nomination:
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has defended his ruling party’s decision to nominate his son and children of other party officials to run in upcoming national elections, rejecting suggestions he is laying the foundation for a dynasty.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh, Hun Sen said that critics have misunderstood the nomination of family members of officials of Cambodian People’s Party to run for parliamentary seats as an attempt to cement a succession.
“When the CPP made its candidate lists, they were leaked to the media and some people mistook it as creating a dynasty,” Hun Sen said, adding that critics were only paying attention to a few of the nominations.
Opposition groups have said that Hun Sen, one of the longest-serving prime ministers in the world, is paving the way for one of his children to succeed him.
A senior CPP member confirmed last month that Hun Sen's youngest son, 30-year-old Hun Many, will run for parliament in the July general election, along with his son-in-law, Dy Vichea, a senior police officer in the Interior Ministry.

There have been unconfirmed reports that Hun Sen's eldest son Hun Manet, 35, the chief of the ministry of defense's anti-terrorism unit as well as the deputy chief of Hun Sen's personal bodyguard unit, and his third son, Hun Manith, 31, an army colonel and deputy head of a powerful military intelligence unit, will also run in the polls.
The candidacies raised speculation that Hun Sen is setting the stage for his children to succeed him and establish a political dynasty.
Hun Sen said that the CPP made its nominations based on qualifications of the candidates.
“We don't just make the appointment, they must be qualified," he said, adding that it is important that young people run for office in order to replace aging politicians.
"No one starts their work when they are old.”
But speaking about what Cambodia’s voters want from their leaders, he added that his party has promised stability and that a change in government could “lead the people to misery.”
"They [the people of Cambodia] have been through many regimes.  They want to know if they can rely on their direction with us or not. We have experienced changing regimes that lead to war across Cambodia."
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy
Hun Sen’s comments came as the opposition coalition National Rescue Party formally named its exiled chief Sam Rainsy as its choice to become prime minister if the party wins the elections.
The government has threatened to jail Sam Rainsy if he returns to Cambodia from France, where he is living in exile after being convicted of offenses linked to a protest over border demarcation with Vietnam in a case he says is politically motivated. He faces 12 years in prison.
But Sam Rainsy is confident of returning to participate in the July elections, saying international pressure on Hun Sen over the vote's legitimacy if he cannot stand in elections could convince the authorities to allow him back to the country.
The National Rescue Party also announced on Thursday that it has nominated Human Rights Party President Kem Sokha to be its National Assembly President if the party wins in the polls.
Sam Rainsy said that he believes that he will be able to return to Cambodia due to mounting international pressure on the Cambodian government.
"It is obvious [that I will be able to return], and there are a lot of positive signs,” he said from Singapore, where he was leading a meeting between the Sam Rainsy Party and Human Rights Party that had joined forces to form the National Rescue Party.
“Whenever I am traveling somewhere, the country’s leaders warn Hun Sen's government that if the election goes ahead without Sam Rainsy, those countries would not recognize the election results and the new government," he said.
The U.S. and other foreign governments have said they are disappointed by Cambodia’s National Election Committee’s disqualification of Sam Rainsy based on a criminal conviction that “credible observers” say was politically motivated.
Ministry of the Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said Thursday that the government will not request Sam Rainsy’s extradition and will not arrest him as long as he stays out of Cambodia.
The National Rescue Party will hold its first-ever congress on April 7 and is expected to endorse Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha as its top two leaders.
The CPP will hold its party congress from March 16 to 17 to confirm Hun  Sen as prime minister if the party retains power, Hun Sen announced Thursday.
Reported and translated by Samean Yun for RFA’s Khmer Service. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.

Chinese Women Still Face Blatant Workplace Bias

Chinese Women Still Face Blatant Workplace Bias:
Workplace discrimination against Chinese women is still rife, in spite of a slew of positive women-in-work news stories published in the country's tightly controlled official media for International Women's Day, experts said on Friday.
"Discrimination against women in China is extremely common," said Li Qiang, who heads the U.S.-based rights group China Labor Watch. "There is a lack of law enforcement measures taken to protect equality in women's employment."
He said that while Chinese women enjoy labor law protection on paper, such rules are frequently flouted by companies seeking to minimize the cost of maternity leave and other family-linked benefits.
Mao Zedong's phrase, "Women hold up half the sky" made its obligatory appearance in at least two stories from Xinhua news agency, the official news outlet of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, on Friday.
The China News Service website reported on initiatives by a number of Chinese cities to redress workplace discrimination by holding women-only recruitment fairs, while a number of state-run papers gave top billing to a survey showing that the proportion of women in senior management posts in China rose to 51 percent from 25 percent in 2012.
Few lawsuits
While China's most powerful women seem to be doing well in the boardroom, far above the global average of 21 percent representation, the picture for middle- and working-class women is far less rosy.
"In the U.S., if a company discriminates against women, it will likely face a lawsuit," Li said. "But in China, the rules on compensation in such cases are unclear, and the punishments are light."
He said the Party-backed All China Women's Federation had limited scope to act on behalf of women, because it was run by the government.
In the absence of strong legal backing and the high personal costs associated with official complaints, many Chinese women who experience discrimination in the workplace choose to avoid a lawsuit, Li added.
"Under such circumstances, there is no need for companies to invest in ensuring they comply with the law," he said.
"They frequently advertise for staff in terms that are clearly discriminatory."
Women-only job fairs
Nanchang, Suzhou, Zhengzhou, Chengdu, Kunming and Changchun are among the cities hosting all-female recruitment fairs, in a bid to boost employment rates among women, the official China News Service reported on Thursday.
Companies in Shenyang will be offering more than 1,000 industrial jobs for women, the website said.
Shenyang lawyer Ding Xiaoji said the fairs were largely cosmetic exercises, however.
"They just put them on for the festival, to look as if they're looking out for women and giving them some opportunities," Ding said.
"I think the issue of women landing jobs is a year-round problem, and can't be solved by an annual activity."
Avoiding maternity leave costs
A number of the companies taking part in the Shenyang fair specified that applicants should already be married, and that women with children would be given priority.
Ding said this had more to do with cutting costs associated with maternity leave than with offering opportunities to mothers.
"If they specify that their staff should be married with kids, then they won't be claiming marriage or maternity leave," she said. "This is in the interest of the companies."
She said such advertising wouldn't be tolerated in the United States, so as to preserve as much as possible equality of opportunity among applicants.
"At the very least, it prevents this sort of blatant discrimination," Ding said.
Age and appearance requirements
A Beijing resident surnamed Song said there were often extra requirements placed on female applicants for job openings in China.
"In particular, age and appearance are an invisible way of raising the bar for women," Song said. "Some of the requirements are quite unreasonable, although some companies also extend them to men as well."
She said huge competition for white-collar jobs had encourage companies to think up new ways of picking the best candidates.
"If there are 10 candidates for a job who all have good points, then they are going to pick the one with the best image, because that's good for when they go on business trips," Song said.
"But of course discrimination is far more serious if you're a woman."
Reported by Lin Ping for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

'They Are Afraid Our Church Will Grow'

'They Are Afraid Our Church Will Grow':
Pastor Sun Wenxian leads the unofficial Protestant Youhao Church in the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang, which exists outside the Three Self Patriotic Movement of churches administered by the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Last month, she suffered a heart attack after a confrontation with police officers who raided the church, and beat her. She spoke to RFA's Mandarin service from her bed at home, where she is still recovering from the attack, but where she is also under tight surveillance:

"I have to lie down and I'm still on an intravenous drip. I have to rest and take care of my health. My heartbeat is still irregular, and they have me under observation. My freedom has been restricted, and I'm not allowed contact with anyone. There are people guarding me, and they won't let anyone in to see me."

Li was rushed to hospital shortly after her heart attack, but asked to be allowed to return home to recover, out of concern for the fate of her church in the wake of the raid. She said she had no way of finding out who attacked her.

"The police gave no identification when they came in, and I have no way of confirming it. They have refused my request to investigate the attack. The religious affairs bureau officials are in cahoots with them. Their aim is to prevent our church from holding meetings for worship, and to restrict the activities of our members. They are afraid that our church will just keep growing."

Li said she had hired a lawyer to help her pursue her attackers and seek redress.

Reported by Lin Ping for RFA's Cantonese service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

Police Detain Activists Near Lu Xia's Home

Police Detain Activists Near Lu Xia's Home:
Authorities in the Chinese capital on Friday detained a group of activists who tried to visit Liu Xia, the wife of jailed Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo under house arrest at her Beijing home, and beat up Hong Kong journalists who tried to follow them.

Hong Kong activist Yeung Hong, together with Henan-based activist Liu Shasha and two unnamed netizens from Beijing, got as far as the residential compound in a Beijing suburb where Liu has been held under police guard since October 2010, when the Nobel committee first announced her husband's award.

Holding a placard with the words "Liu Xia, everyone is behind you!" and shouting slogans through a megaphone, the activists were quickly detained, questioned for several hours, and then released in the early hours of Friday morning.

"We were standing down at ground level shouting, for about two minutes, until about eight security guards and plainclothes cops came rushing over and snatched away our [placard and megaphone] in a very rude manner," Yeung said.

"Then they pinned us to the ground and were about to start beating us up, when they suddenly pushed us away."

"At the exact same time they did that, a light cam on in Liu Xia's apartment, so maybe she heard something going on....I think maybe Liu Xia saw us," he said.

Three of the group were released after questioning, but Liu Shasha was handed into the custody of officials who escorted her back to her hometown in Henan, activists said via social media.

Journalists present

Yang and the other activists were followed to the compound by a large group of Hong Kong journalists, including film crews from Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), TVB, and nowTV, who also clashed with plainclothes police officers stationed outside.

Footage shot of the incident by nowTV showed a cameraman being grabbed by the neck and a camera falling to the ground.

An RTHK reporter and cameraman sustained injuries in the scuffle, according to Hong Kong media reports, sparking widespread protests from media associations and political parties in Hong Kong, which still enjoys greater media freedom than the rest of China.

Ronald Chiu, chairman of the Hong Kong News Executives Association, told Hong Kong media that that attack on the RTHK camera crew was unacceptable.

"They should take a more enlightened attitude during the parliamentary sessions," Chiu said, referring to the National People's Congress
(NPC) annual session, which is currently under way in the Chinese capital, sparking tight security.

"Everyone wants to know about Liu Xia's circumstances, so it is understandable that some people tried to go there to find out, and to visit her."

"These are normal reporting activities," Chiu added.

Anxious, tearful

The visit came just days after an international signature campaign begun by Archbishop Desmond Tutu calling on Beijing to free both Lius was handed to Chinese officials, after being signed last year by more than 130 former Nobel laureates across all disciplines.

On Feb. 28, a petition bearing more than 450,000 signatures from 130 countries was delivered to Chinese authorities in Berlin, Hong Kong, London, Paris, New York, Taipei, and Washington DC.

Video taken of a rare visit to Liu Xia's apartment by Hu Jia and fellow activist Xu Youyu late last year showed her anxious and tearful, whispering into Xu's ear and asking the pair to leave.

Days earlier, a crying and trembling Liu Xia gave her first media interview in 26 months, speaking out for the first time about her ill-health and extreme isolation.

Liu Xia said that apart from an escorted monthly visit to see Liu Xiaobo in prison, she hasn't left the couple's apartment since October 2010.

The petition called on China's incoming president Xi Jinping to release Liu Xiaobo, who has served four years of an 11-year jail term for subversion, and to free Liu Xia from house arrest.

Reported by Xin Yu for RFA's Mandarin service, and by Wen Yuqing for the Cantonese service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

Jailed Vietnamese Blogger Named ‘Woman of Courage’

Jailed Vietnamese Blogger Named ‘Woman of Courage’:
A Vietnamese blogger languishing in jail after challenging her one-party Communist government leaders on social justice issues was honored in the U.S. Friday as an “International Woman of Courage” in a move highlighting Hanoi’s crackdown on online dissent.
Ta Phong Tan, a Catholic ex-policewoman who is serving a 10-year jail sentence for conducting "anti-state propaganda" in her online writings, is one of ten “extraordinary women” from around the world recognized by the State Department for their work advocating for women’s empowerment.
Tan had posted essays and exposes on her “Truth and Justice” blog and was among the first bloggers to write and comment on political news events long considered off-limits by the Vietnamese authorities until she was detained in 2011.
She was hailed as a “ground-breaking blogger” and presented with the award in absentia in a ceremony in Washington marking International Women’s Day on Friday.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Tan had helped inspire “an awakening of citizen journalists and bloggers" challenging government views in Vietnam and was given the award for her "dedication to continually demanding a better government for the Vietnamese people."
He said she had received her jail sentence in a "rigged verdict" and at the trial had called out against injustice while being led away from the courtroom.
Chinese-Tibetan poet and writer Tsering Woeser, who blogs about rights issues facing Tibetans and is currently under house arrest in Beijing, was also among those selected for the award and received hers in absentia.
Tan, who is in her forties, was an officer in Vietnam’s security forces and a member of the Vietnamese Communist Party before she was expelled from both over her online writings.
Conducting 'propaganda against the state'
Tan was sentenced to jail last year alongside two fellow members of the “Free Journalists Club” citizen reporting website, dissidents Nguyen Van Hai (whose pen name is Dieu Cay) and Phanh Thanh Hai.
Shortly before the trial, Tan’s mother set herself on fire and died in protest against her daughter’s imprisonment.
Tan and the other two were sentenced under Article 88 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code, a provision rights groups say is vaguely defined and used by Hanoi to silence dissent.
Vietnam is home to a vibrant blogging community, including plenty of women, but netizens who speak critically of the government face harsh controls.
Other women citizen journalists in Vietnam who have suffered punishment for their blogging include Lo Thanh Thao, who was jailed under Article 88 after being arrested while taking photos of a protest over a land dispute, and Nguyen Hoang Vi, who has said police sexually assaulted her after she was taken into custody on suspicion of hiding "illegal exhibits" on her body.
International rights groups have accused the Vietnamese government of mounting a sophisticated and sustained attack on online dissent by detaining and intimidating anti-government bloggers.
Huynh Ngoc Chenh
On Thursday, Paris-based press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders named Ho Chi Minh City-based blogger Huynh Ngoc Chenh its international “Netizen of the Year.”
Chenh, a retired senior editor at the Thanh Nien newspaper whose blog has faced heavy government pressure, was selected for the award by web users among Reporters Without Borders’ nominees as a netizen who defends freedom of expression.
The group said Chenh is one of Vietnam’s most influential bloggers, with tens of thousands of Vietnamese using anti-censorship software to circumvent blocks on his site.
Chenh said the award is a source of inspiration for himself and for “all bloggers and independent journalists in Vietnam, and those who face the restrictions about the right of freedom of expression.”
“It demonstrates the world community’s support and will make us more audacious in raising our concerns and continuing our struggle for freedom of information. It will help people from being scared away from speaking out.”
Chen blogs about democracy, human rights, and the territorial disputes between Vietnam and China, and has been threatened numerous times by the authorities for his articles.
Reporters Without Borders lists one-party Vietnam as an “Enemy of the Internet” and the third-largest prison in the world for netizens.
The group’s Secretary General Christophe Deloire said that bloggers like Chenh “fill the void left by the state-run media” in a country “marked by draconian censorship and growing surveillance of dissidents.”
Reporters Without Borders will present the award to Chenh in Paris on March 12, the World Day against Cyber Censorship.

Rise in Cambodia’s Women Prisoners ‘Alarming’

Rise in Cambodia’s Women Prisoners ‘Alarming’:
Cambodia’s women prisoners are increasing at an alarming rate, amplifying concerns about pregnant inmates and detainees with children in an overburdened jail system, a rights group said this week.
With the incarceration rate of women growing four times faster than that of men, Cambodian authorities should consider policies jailing women over petty non-violent offenses, the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (Licadho) said Thursday.
The group, which distributed food and supplies to women prisoners to mark International Women’s Day on Friday, counted 1,270 female inmates in Cambodia’s prison system at the end of 2012, a 39 percent increase from two years ago.
The growth rate is unsustainable in a prison system that is already “massively overburdened,” the group said.
Licadho’s Deputy Director Svay Thy said that with many women being incarcerated for light crimes, prisons were facing pressure for space.
Given the skyrocketing rates, authorities should consider lighter penalties for minor crimes that don’t require incarceration, she said.
"For example, if a woman commits a minor crime, authorities should work out a way to avoid detention as this will help easing the issues prisons face,” she told RFA’s Khmer Service.
“When authorities detain women for minor crimes, it makes the prisons worse.”
Drug-related arrests
A main reason for the rise in crimes was a rise in drug-related arrests, with crackdowns on drug trafficking disproportionately affecting women, Licadho said.
Amid stepped up crackdowns on drug trafficking, women working at the low level of the drug trade were easy targets for arrest, while often men at the higher level go unpunished, it said.
Raising children in prison
Licadho counted 14 pregnant women and 67 women living with their children in prison at the end of 2012, with nearly all of them incarcerated on drug-trafficking sentences.
Under Cambodian law, children are allowed to stay with their mothers in prison until the age of six if alternative care is not available.
But amid overcrowding and tight budgets, the women prisoners with children strain the prison system’s resources.
“Prisons lack the space and prison staff lack the training and resources to deal with the special needs of incarcerated women and children,” Licadho’s Prison Supervisor Nget Sokun said.
Rights groups say food and personal hygiene allowances are often too small for inmates to care for their children or for pregnant women to feed themselves properly.
Licadho urged judges to take family impact when at sentencing, saying pregnant women and women with infants should only be imprisoned in exceptional circumstances.
The group also expressed concern at the “overuse” of pretrial detention, especially for pregnant women.
Minh Sam Oeun, Deputy Director of the Prey Sar Prison, Cambodia’s largest, said Friday that the government is addressing women inmates’ needs at the prison, particularly by providing education and vocational training to help them improve their lives once they leave.
"They have tried to learn some vocational training for themselves before they are released," she said on Friday at the prison, as Licadho volunteers distributed food, toys, and other supplies for women inmates.
“At first they didn't pay much attention to us but now they understand and they are behaving,” she said.
Reported by RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.

Violence Against Women Takes a Big Toll in Asia

Violence Against Women Takes a Big Toll in Asia:
Violence against women in Asia is rising rapidly and taking a big toll not only on families and homes but also on economies and productivity in the region, officials and experts said Friday.

In Vietnam, where 30 percent of the women report physical, sexual, or psychological harm, a U.N. study said the incidence of violence experienced by women and girls is high and pervasive, cutting across all socio-economic groups, education levels, and regions.

In China, a published study by the All China Women's Federation indicated that around one in four women will experience domestic violence at some point in her life while other studies suggested as many as two in three women could be affected in some rural areas.

The upsurge in violence in the world's most populous nation was highlighted in the recent case of a woman who was sentenced to death for killing her husband following months of violent abuse, which local authorities had failed to act against despite her begging for protection.

Lawyers, scholars and rights groups are now demanding that the government spare the life of 41-year-old Li Yan from Sichuan province.

Her husband, according to rights groups, had kicked and beaten her, stubbed out cigarettes on her face, cut off part of her finger, locked her in their home during the day without food or drink, and left her out on the balcony in wintertime while she was only partially clothed.

In Cambodia, newspapers just this week reported that five men drugged and gang-raped a woman to the point of unconsciousness at Koh Dach Port in Phnom Penh. Her ordeal lasted for hours.

"The statistics on violence against women and girls in our region continue to shock," Pieter Van Maaren, United Nations Resident Coordinator ad interim in Cambodia said in an op-ed published on the U.N. website Friday.

It was written in conjunction with International Women's Day, which is marked this year on the theme "Elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls."

According to one recent U.N. survey, one in four men in the Asia-Pacific region admit to rape, with 5 percent of Cambodian men admitting to gang rape.

In India, the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman in the capital New Delhi in December shocked the country and triggered a debate about the treatment of women. She has now become the spiritual torchbearer of a popular movement to end violence against women in the country.

Human trafficking

Women and girls are also the biggest victims of human trafficking—they comprise 80 percent of the estimated 800,000 people trafficked annually across the world, with the majority—79 percent—trafficked for sexual exploitation.

Asia is home to the largest numbers of “missing women” in the world, according to the Manila-based Asian Development Bank, which said women’s safety in public and private spaces remains precarious across the region.

"While progress and ‘modernity’ is evident everywhere across the region, the progress is spurious if 50 percent of the population—women and girls—continue to live under constant fear and terror of violence," the bank's gender expert Shireen Lateef said.

"This is not progress. This is simply unacceptable," she said in a report, highlighting the prevalence of sexual assault, harassment, domestic violence, female trafficking, and pre-natal sex selection across the region.

According to estimates, up to seven in 10 women around the world will be beaten, raped, abused, or mutilated in their lifetimes, the U.N. said.

Violence against women is a gross human rights violation, the U.N. said, adding that it fractures families and communities, hampers development, and costs countries billions of dollars annually in health-care costs and lost productivity.

An unprecedented U.N. study on the economic effects of the cost of violence against women in Vietnam showed the country is losing 1.78 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), the value of its goods and services produced, in estimated productivity from the violence—more than U.S. $2 billion dollars a year.

The gender-based violence had an "enormous economic, psychological and social toll" on survivors, their households and communities as well as for the country as a whole, the study said.

Cost analyses of violence against women carried out in several other countries, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, reveal that the annual cost may vary from U.S. $1.16 billion to U.S. $32.9 billion, in spite of significant progress, the U.N. said.

"Some of these studies also highlight the serious consequences domestic violence has on the well-being and health of victims, their children and friends and family, demonstrating how the intimate relationship between women and men is in fact a public matter with widespread consequences," it said.

HIV/AIDS link

Studies also reveal increasing links between violence against women, HIV and AIDS, and food security.

"Violence or the fear of violence can prevent women from negotiating safer sex. At the same time women living with HIV are often more vulnerable to violence, which can stop women from getting the HIV care and treatment they need," Executive Director Michel Sidibe said in a report.

"Today, half of all people living with HIV are women. Every minute one young woman is infected with HIV. This is not acceptable," he said.

Domestic violence also has an overall negative impact on agricultural production and family well-being as women make up more than 40 percent of the agricultural labor force in developing countries.

"For many women struggling to feed themselves and their children today, food security would mean personal and legal security."

Five Protesting Tibetans held on 'Uprising Day'

Five Protesting Tibetans held on 'Uprising Day':
Chinese police detained five Tibetans, including three monks, in Sichuan province after they protested Sunday on the anniversary of the failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule and called for the return of Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, sources said.

The anniversary was also marked by protests by Tibetans in various cities in the world, including in India's Dharamsala, where police prevented a Tibetan man from setting himself on fire to protest Chinese rule in Tibetan-populated areas.

In China's close ally Nepal's capital Kathmandu, 18 mostly Tibetans were held by the government on suspicion of "anti-China activities."

The detention of the five Tibetans in Sichuan's Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture came as Chinese authorities stepped up security ahead of the Tibetan "Uprising Day" and following the 107 Tibetan self-immolation protests that have occurred so far.

The self-immolators have mostly questioned Chinese rule and called for the return of the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet after the failed national revolt against Chinese occupation in 1959.

Carrying a white protest banner with the photo of the Dalai Lama, the three monks called for freedom and democracy, just before noon at Sershul (in Chinese, Shiquin) county, sources inside Tibet told RFA's Tibetan Service.

As the monks—identified as Lobsang Samten, Sonam Thargyal and Thupten Gelek from the Mang Ge monastery in Zyagchukha (Yajian, in Chinese) county—were detained, two Tibetan laymen shouted at the Chinese police and the duo were also taken away, the source said.

The two laymen were identified as Lobsang Kalsang, 17, and Ngawang Gyatso, 41. Both of them were former monks.

"Those three monks protested for quite some time in the county center before police took them away," the source said.

The fate of the five were not known as communication links were cut off immediately after the detention, the sources said.

Message

In a message on "Uprising Day," the Tibetan government in exile based in India's hill town Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama lives, called on Beijing to end "the grave situation" in Tibet and asked the international community to press the Chinese government to enter into meaningful dialogue with the Tibetan leadership.

"The only way to end this brutal and grave situation is for China to change its current hard line Tibet policy by respecting the aspirations of the Tibetan people," said Lobsang Sangay, the political leader of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the official name of the exile government.

"The yearning for freedom that moved our elders to undertake the epochal events of March 10, 1959 is a beacon that guides our present-day struggle to secure our basic freedom, dignity and identity," Sangay said.

He said that recent attempts by the Chinnese authorities to criminalize the Tibetan self-immolators, and persecute their family members and friends through "sham trials" are likely "to prolong the cycle of self-immolation, persecution, and more immolation."

Thousands of Tibetans and supporters held protests in the streets of Sydney, Tokyo, New Delhi, Paris, Toronto and other cities to mark Uprising Day, the Students for a Free Tibet group said in a statement.

"Today, we commemorate the historic uprising of 1959 when Tibetans—armed with only the will and determination to fight for their country—resolutely rose up against China's invading forces to protect the life of the Dalai Lama and to ensure his successful escape into exile," the group's executive director, Tenzin Dorjee, said.

In Dharamsala, Indian police prevented a Tibetan man from setting himself on fire as Tibetan exiles gathered to mark the anniversary, officials said, Agence France-Presse reported.

Dawa Dhondup, 30, was marching with hundreds of Tibetan exiles, when he consumed and poured gasoline over himself, police constable Sanjeev Kumar said. Police stopped him from setting himself on fire and took him to a hospital.

Nepal arrests

In Kathmandu, Nepalese police arrested 18 mostly Tibetans on suspicion of "anti-China activities,"  police spokesman Uttam Subedi told AFP, saying all but three had been released on the same day.

Nepal, home to around 20,000 Tibetans, is under intense pressure from Beijing over the exiles, and has repeatedly said it will not tolerate what it calls "anti-China activities."

On February 13, a Tibetan monk doused himself in petrol in a Kathmandu restaurant and set himself on fire.

In Taiwan, hundreds of slogan-chanting Tibetan activists and their Taiwanese sympathisers marched peacefully through the capital in protest at Chinese rule of Tibet.

Reported by RFA's Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.

The race is on! (Indonesia)

The race is on! (Indonesia): With Mahkamah Konstitusi Chief Justice Mahfud MD stepping down, the race to replace him is already underway. The current candidates are Arief Hidayat, Sugianto and Djafar Al Bram, law professors at Indonesian universities. They have already undergone the "essay-writing" portion of the fit and proper test.

According to The Jakarta Globe, several other candidates, including former Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar and law professors Lodewijk Gultom and Nimatul Huda have dropped out of the race. Patrialis had been the most prominent candidate in the race. According to Ruhut Poltak Sitompul, a member of the House of Representatives Komisi III, Patrialis withdrew because he likely would not have become chief justice. Instead, current justice Ali Mochtar will likely get the role.

With Patrialis out of the race, it also leaves a dearth of candidates with high-profile political experience. Many of the serving justices served either as MPs, ministers, or judges. There is a debate in the literature as to whether political experience helps judges resist demands from the other branches of government. Both Chief Justices Mahfud and Jimly had served in the legislature in some capacity and both were infamous for being canny tacticians. In the U.S., some of the most celebrated justices, such as Earl Warren and Hugo Black, made their careers in politics. 

A law professor might also bring a more doctrinal perspective to the bench. Some Indonesian scholars believe the "politician-justices" are too pragmatic in their decisions. The charge "legislating from the bench" is often leveled. The law professors might bring a more theoretical approach to their judging.

So far, Mahfud is the only confirmed resignation, but Harjono also must resign at the end of this term (he'll have served two terms). None of the other justices are required to retire, so it looks like the bench will remain largely the same.

Government finally acts against dissident CPD-RDTL's illegal occupation of land and orders police arrests and forced returns | East Timor Law and Justice Bulletin

Government finally acts against dissident CPD-RDTL's illegal occupation of land and orders police arrests and forced returns | East Timor Law and Justice Bulletin

View Point: Keep the promise: End violence against women! | The Jakarta Post

View Point: Keep the promise: End violence against women! | The Jakarta Post

SHNEWS.CO:LSM Aceh Gugat Komnas HAM

SHNEWS.CO:LSM Aceh Gugat Komnas HAM

Taufik Kiemas Throws His Support Behind Mahfud MD for 2014 Election | The Jakarta Globe

Taufik Kiemas Throws His Support Behind Mahfud MD for 2014 Election | The Jakarta Globe

SBY gets erratic as Dems’ crisis deepens

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Dems ask KPU for leeway on 2014 legislative candidate list

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162 Indonesian oil palm workers in Sabah evacuated

162 Indonesian oil palm workers in Sabah evacuated: As many as 162 Indonesians working at oil palm plantations in Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia, have been evacuated to temporary shelter some six kilometers away from the clashes between the police and ...

WB supports electricity access for schools in remote areas

WB supports electricity access for schools in remote areas: The World Bank (WB) provides electric-generating equipment for several schools located in remote areas in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). The assistance is delivered under the Safe and Energy ...

Shark fin-hungry China drives "chaotic" fishing in Indonesia - Channel News Asia

Shark fin-hungry China drives "chaotic" fishing in Indonesia - Channel News Asia:

Shark fin-hungry China drives "chaotic" fishing in Indonesia Channel News Asia BENOA, Indonesia: Dozens of weary Indonesian fishermen sail into a busy port on the resort island of Bali celebrating their lucrative and controversial haul that is destined to end up at Chinese banquets. The fishermen show off about 100 shark fins ... and more »

Meet the real 'neo-libs' of Indonesia - Jakarta Post

Meet the real 'neo-libs' of Indonesia - Jakarta Post:

Meet the real 'neo-libs' of Indonesia Jakarta Post It's a living: Ipah and her husband have been vegetable sellers at Pasar Kebayoran Lama since 1985. They have sent their four children to college on their earnings. JP. The Jakarta Post visited a number of traditional markets to see how they are ... and more »

Indonesia's new generation of Documentary makers - ABC Online

Indonesia's new generation of Documentary makers - ABC Online:

Indonesia's new generation of Documentary makers ABC Online Lack of funding and training is problematic for aspiring documentary makers everywhere. But in Indonesia, the Jakarta Correspondents Club, and organisations like it, are stepping in to help the country's future film-makers. Helen Brown reports from ...

Atheism, same-sex marriage forbidden in Indonesia: Justice candidate - Jakarta Post

Atheism, same-sex marriage forbidden in Indonesia: Justice candidate - Jakarta Post:

Jakarta Post

Atheism, same-sex marriage forbidden in Indonesia: Justice candidate Jakarta Post A Constitutional Court justice candidate, Arief Hidayat, said on Monday that atheism and same-sex marriage should be prohibited in Indonesia because they were based on values that contradicted the country's ideology of Pancasila and the1945 Constitution.

Indonesia's democracy at a crossroads - Sydney Morning Herald

Indonesia's democracy at a crossroads - Sydney Morning Herald:

Sydney Morning Herald

Indonesia's democracy at a crossroads Sydney Morning Herald Indonesia is hailed as an outstanding success story of the modern world. Suharto's military dictatorship transformed into a vibrant democracy; it's a Muslim-majority country where the extremists are losing; where the economy booms and poverty falls ...

Indonesia's Anti-Terror Squad Slammed for Alleged Rights Abuses - Voice of America

Indonesia's Anti-Terror Squad Slammed for Alleged Rights Abuses - Voice of America:

Voice of America

Indonesia's Anti-Terror Squad Slammed for Alleged Rights Abuses Voice of America JAKARTA, INDONESIA — A recently leaked videotape that allegedly shows members of Indonesia's counterterrorism squad, Densus 88, torturing and beating terror suspects has renewed calls to re-evaluate the perceived impunity of the country's anti-terror ... Indonesia probes Densus 88 police 'torture'BBC News all 6 news articles »

IDC: Smartphone shipments to overtake feature phones worldwide in 2013

IDC: Smartphone shipments to overtake feature phones worldwide in 2013:
In 2013, the total number of smartphones shipped around the globe will surpass feature phones for the first time ever, according to a new forecast published by the International Data Corporation (IDC) today.
The IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker expects 918.6 million smartphones to be sent out over the course of this year, equal to 50.1 percent of total mobile phones shipped by vendors.
The IDC says it has based its predictions in part on the falling price of smartphones, as well as better availability and consumer interest worldwide. Combined with the roll-out of 4G networks, the IDC predicts that 1.5 billion smartphones will be shipped globally by the end of 2017, equal to more than two-thirds of total mobile phone shipments that year.
Looking ahead, China is expected to come out on top over the next nine months, with 301.2 million smartphones shipped to retailers throughout the country. That works out at a 32.8 percent global market share, more than double that in the US (15 percent).
America will retain its strong second place with 137.5 million smartphone shipments in 2013, way ahead of the 35 million mark enjoyed by the UK and Japan. Brazil and India will sit in fifth and sixth place respectively, with the rest of the world making up a 38.4 percent market share combined.
By 2017, however, that leaderboard looks markedly different. China and the US still hold the top two spots, although the gap has widened to 457.9 million versus 183 million shipments.
Interestingly though, despite China’s 52 percent growth in this period, its marketshare will have dropped to 30.2 percent due to smartphone adoption in other regions, such as India and Brazil.
Melissa Chau, Senior Research Manager, IDC Asia/Pacific said:

“While we don’t expect China’s smartphone growth to maintain the pace of a runaway train as it has over the last two years, there continue to be big drivers to keep the market growing as it leads the way to ever-lower smartphone prices and the country’s transition to 4G networks is only just beginning.”

India, meanwhile, will have leapfrogged to third by 2017, jumping to 155.6 million as its economy continues to develop and grow. Brazil, meanwhile, will also see some signficant growth, increasing from 28.9 million units to 66.3 million units.
The UK will slip to fifth despite 33.8 percent growth between 2013 and 2017, while Japan will sit in sixth with a much more modest 7.1 percent growth.
The growth in smartphones and the corresponding drop in feature phone sales shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Last July, a report by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) revealed that in the previous quarter, smartphones had accounted for 56.9 percent of phones shipped to retailers in the country.
The balance, therefore, has already begun to switch and it shouldn’t be too long before other emerging markets follow suit.
Image Credit: LEO RAMIREZ/AFP/Getty Images

White House gives ‘full support’ to petition calling for phone unlocking to be made legal, backs tablets too

White House gives ‘full support’ to petition calling for phone unlocking to be made legal, backs tablets too:
A White House petition to make unlocking cell phones legal again has received an official response. The US government is in “full support and are going to pass through legislation,” Sina Khanifar, the petition’s creator told TNW.
In the official response, the White House says it agrees with the 114,000+ Americans that signed the petition. Furthermore, the US government says tablets should be included too. Here is the reasoning:

And if you have paid for your mobile device, and aren’t bound by a service agreement or other obligation, you should be able to use it on another network. It’s common sense, crucial for protecting consumer choice, and important for ensuring we continue to have the vibrant, competitive wireless market that delivers innovative products and solid service to meet consumers’ needs.
This is particularly important for secondhand or other mobile devices that you might buy or receive as a gift, and want to activate on the wireless network that meets your needs — even if it isn’t the one on which the device was first activated. All consumers deserve that flexibility.

The response further says the Obama Administration “would support a range of approaches to addressing this issue, including narrow legislative fixes in the telecommunications space that make it clear: neither criminal law nor technological locks should prevent consumers from switching carriers when they are no longer bound by a service agreement or other obligation.” This is a huge win for consumers and shows petitions on the US government’s website actually works.
Last but not least, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is backing the new initiative. FCC Chairman Genachowski issued the following statement (PDF):

The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress recently reversed its longstanding position and stated it is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act for consumers to unlock new mobile phones, even those outside of contract periods, without their wireless providers’ permission, and that consumers are subject to criminal penalties if they do. From a communications policy perspective, this raises serious competition and innovation concerns, and for wireless consumers, it doesn’t pass the common sense test. The FCC is examining this issue, looking into whether the agency, wireless providers, or others should take action to preserve consumers’ ability to unlock their mobile phones. I also encourage Congress to take a close look and consider a legislative solution.

Back in late January, a new US federal policy stating certain mobile phones could not be unlocked legally went into effect. Citizens doing so would be in violation of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA).
The US Copyright Office says only owners of the software, which in almost all cases means the companies that make mobile operating systems like Apple, Google, and Microsoft, can unlock handsets. Many consumers disagree as they believe once they buy a phone they should be able to do whatever they want with the device, including unlocking it in order to switch carriers.
A petition was quickly launched in response. Less than two weeks ago, the petition passed the 100,000 signature mark, requiring the US government to issue an official response.
For reference, here’s the petition’s full description:

The Librarian of Congress decided in October 2012 that unlocking of cell phones would be removed from the exceptions to the DMCA. As of January 26, consumers will no longer be able unlock their phones for use on a different network without carrier permission, even after their contract has expired.
Consumers will be forced to pay exorbitant roaming fees to make calls while traveling abroad. It reduces consumer choice, and decreases the resale value of devices that consumers have paid for in full. The Librarian noted that carriers are offering more unlocked phones at present, but the great majority of phones sold are still locked.
We ask that the White House ask the Librarian of Congress to rescind this decision, and failing that, champion a bill that makes unlocking permanently legal.

Here’s the full response:

Thank you for sharing your views on cell phone unlocking with us through your petition on our We the People platform. Last week the White House brought together experts from across government who work on telecommunications, technology, and copyright policy, and we’re pleased to offer our response.
The White House agrees with the 114,000+ of you who believe that consumers should be able to unlock their cell phones without risking criminal or other penalties. In fact, we believe the same principle should also apply to tablets, which are increasingly similar to smart phones. And if you have paid for your mobile device, and aren’t bound by a service agreement or other obligation, you should be able to use it on another network. It’s common sense, crucial for protecting consumer choice, and important for ensuring we continue to have the vibrant, competitive wireless market that delivers innovative products and solid service to meet consumers’ needs.
This is particularly important for secondhand or other mobile devices that you might buy or receive as a gift, and want to activate on the wireless network that meets your needs — even if it isn’t the one on which the device was first activated. All consumers deserve that flexibility.
The White House’s position detailed in this response builds on some critical thinking done by the President’s chief advisory Agency on these matters: the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). For more context and information on the technical aspects of the issue, you can review the NTIA’s letter to the Library of Congress’ Register of Copyrights (.pdf), voicing strong support for maintaining the previous exception to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) for cell phone carrier unlocking.
Contrary to the NTIA’s recommendation, the Librarian of Congress ruled that phones purchased after January of this year would no longer be exempted from the DMCA. The law gives the Librarian the authority to establish or eliminate exceptions — and we respect that process. But it is also worth noting the statement the Library of Congress released today on the broader public policy concerns of the issue. Clearly the White House and Library of Congress agree that the DMCA exception process is a rigid and imperfect fit for this telecommunications issue, and we want to ensure this particular challenge for mobile competition is solved.
So where do we go from here?
The Obama Administration would support a range of approaches to addressing this issue, including narrow legislative fixes in the telecommunications space that make it clear: neither criminal law nor technological locks should prevent consumers from switching carriers when they are no longer bound by a service agreement or other obligation.
We also believe the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), with its responsibility for promoting mobile competition and innovation, has an important role to play here. FCC Chairman Genachowski today voiced his concern about mobile phone unlocking (.pdf), and to complement his efforts, NTIA will be formally engaging with the FCC as it addresses this urgent issue.
Finally, we would encourage mobile providers to consider what steps they as businesses can take to ensure that their customers can fully reap the benefits and features they expect when purchasing their devices.
We look forward to continuing to work with Congress, the wireless and mobile phone industries, and most importantly you — the everyday consumers who stand to benefit from this greater flexibility — to ensure our laws keep pace with changing technology, protect the economic competitiveness that has led to such innovation in this space, and offer consumers the flexibility and freedoms they deserve.
R. David Edelman is Senior Advisor for Internet, Innovation, & Privacy

Khanifar gave TNW the following statement in regards to the White House’s response:

A little earlier I received a call from David Edelman at the White House, and he gave me the news. I’m really glad to see the White House taking action on an issue that’s clearly very important to people. As the White House said in the response, keeping unlocking legal is really “common sense,” and I’m excited to see them recognizing this. David was enthusiastic about getting this fixed as quickly as possible.
This is a big victory for consumers, and I’m glad to have played a part in it. A lot of people reacted skeptically when I originally started the petition, with lots of comments to the effect of “petitions don’t do anything.” The optimist in me is really glad to have proved them wrong. The White House just showed that they really do listen, and that they’re willing to take action.
While I think this is wonderful, I think the real culprit here is Section 1201 of the DMCA, the controversial “anti-circumvention provision.” I discussed with the White House the potential of pushing to have that provision amended or removed, and they want to continue that conversation. I’ll have exciting news on the campaign to make this happen tomorrow.

A job well done, if we may say so ourselves.
Image Credit: Trevor McGoldrick/Flickr

Introducing Art Talks on Google+

Introducing Art Talks on Google+: An excellent guide often best brings an art gallery or museum’s collections to life. Starting this week, we’re hoping to bring this experience online with “Art Talks,” a series of Hangouts on Air on our Google Art Project Google+ page. Each month, curators, museum directors, historians and educators from some of the world’s most renowned cultural institutions will reveal the hidden stories behind particular works, examine the curation process and provide insights into particular masterpieces or artists.



The first guided visit will be held this Wednesday, March 6 at 8pm ET from The Museum of Modern Art. Deborah Howes, Director of Digital Learning, along with a panel of artists and students, will discuss how to teach art online. To post a question, visit the event page. If this talk falls too late for you to tune in live, you can watch afterward on our Google Art Project YouTube channel.



The next talk is from London. On March 20, Caroline Campbell and Arnika Schmidt from the National Gallery will discuss depictions of the female nude. Details are available on the Art Project’s event page. In April we’ll host a panel examining one of the Google Art Project’s popular gigapixel works, Bruegel’s “Tower of Babel,” featuring Peter Parshall, curator at the National Gallery of Art in Washington.







Additional talks are planned by curators from high-profile institutions such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Museo Nacional de Arte in Mexico and the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar.



Google Art Project aims to make art more accessible to all. We hope that Art Talks is the next step in bringing art to your armchair, wherever you are in the world, with just a click of a button. Stay tuned to the Art Project and Cultural Institute Google+ pages for more information on dates and times of these online lectures.



Posted by Lucy Schwartz, Google Cultural Institute

Last account activity - Gmail Help

Last account activity - Gmail Help

Gmail's Account Activity Reveals More Information

Gmail's Account Activity Reveals More Information: Gmail's account activity is a very useful security feature that offers information about the clients that connected to your email account recently, including the IP addresses and the date.

Until now, Google only displayed generic information about the access type (browser, mobile, POP3). A recent updated added some new details: the browser's name and the user agent. If you click "show details", you can find more information from the user agent: the browser's version and the operating system. Obviously, the browser's user agent can be easily spoofed.

{ Thanks, Herin. }

Lebanese quietly welcome tens of thousands of Syrians into their homes

Lebanese quietly welcome tens of thousands of Syrians into their homes: The influx of Syrians has put an enormous burden on Lebanon, but people like Faddeyah and Ali Abou continue to open their doors and share their resources.

Indonesia tries “cloud seeding” to prevent flooding in Jakarta

Indonesia tries “cloud seeding” to prevent flooding in Jakarta:

JAKARTA, 4 March 2013 (IRIN) - Scientists in Indonesia are experimenting with cloud seeding, or firing salt-based chemicals into clouds to force out rain, to try and prevent flooding in the capital Jakarta, home to increasingly destructive rains.

Mailinator - Let Them Eat Spam!

Mailinator - Let Them Eat Spam!

Use a Google Voice phone number to keep your personal number private | PCWorld

Use a Google Voice phone number to keep your personal number private | PCWorld

Seagate to halt production of 7200-rpm laptop hard drives | PCWorld

Seagate to halt production of 7200-rpm laptop hard drives | PCWorld

Country Gender Assessment for Lao PDR: Key Findings

Country Gender Assessment for Lao PDR: Key Findings

Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States | Southern Poverty Law Center

Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States | Southern Poverty Law Center: http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/publications/close-to-slavery-guestworker-programs-in-the-united-states?utm_source=WhatCounts+Publicaster+Edition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SPLC+Report+%27Close+to+Slavery%27&utm_content=Close+to+Slavery

 Source: Southern Poverty Law Center

02/2013

SPLC-Close-to-Slavery-2013.pdf (pdf, 1.05 MB)

In the debate over comprehensive immigration reform, various policymakers and business groups have suggested that Congress create a new or expanded guestworker program to ensure a steady supply of foreign workers for industries that rely on an abundance of cheap labor.

Congress should look before it leaps. The current H-2 program, which provides temporary farmworkers and non-farm laborers for a variety of U.S. industries, is rife with labor and human rights violations committed by employers who prey on a highly vulnerable workforce. It harms the interests of U.S. workers, as well, by undercutting wages and working conditions for those who labor at the lowest rungs of the economic ladder.

This program should not be expanded or used as a model for immigration reform.
Under the current H-2 program overseen by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), employers brought about 106,000 guestworkers into this country in 2011 — approximately 55,000 for agricultural work and another 51,000 for jobs in forestry, seafood processing, landscaping, construction and other non-agricultural industries.

But far from being treated like “guests,” these workers are systematically exploited and abused. Unlike U.S. citizens, guestworkers do not enjoy the most fundamental protection of a competitive labor market — the ability to change jobs if they are mistreated. Instead, they are bound to the employers who “import” them. If guestworkers complain about abuses, they face deportation, blacklisting or other retaliation.
Bound to a single employer and without access to legal resources, guestworkers are routinely:

• Cheated out of wages

• Forced to mortgage their futures to obtain low-wage, temporary jobs

• Held virtually captive by employers or labor brokers who seize their documents

• Subjected to human trafficking and debt servitude

• Forced to live in squalid conditions

• Denied medical benefits for on-the-job injuries.

Former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel put it this way: “This guestworker program’s the closest thing I’ve ever seen to slavery.”¹

Congressman Rangel’s conclusion is not mere hyperbole nor the first time such a comparison has been made. Former DOL official Lee G. Williams described the old “bracero” program — an earlier version of the guestworker program that brought thousands of Mexican nationals to work in the United States during and after World War II — as a system of “legalized slavery.² On paper, the bracero program had many significant written legal protections, providing workers with what historian Cindy Hahamovitch, an expert on guestworker programs, has called “the most comprehensive farm labor contract in the history of American agriculture.³ Nevertheless, the bracero workers were systematically lied to, cheated and “shamefully neglected.⁴

In practice, there is little difference between the bracero program of yesterday and today’s H-2 guestworker program. Federal law and DOL regulations provide a few protections to H-2 guestworkers, but they exist mainly on paper. Government enforcement of guestworker rights is historically very weak. Private attorneys typically won’t take up their cause. And non-agricultural workers in the program are not eligible for federally funded legal services.

The H-2 guestworker system also can be viewed as a modern-day system of indentured servitude. But unlike European indentured servants of old, today’s guestworkers have no prospect of becoming U.S. citizens. When their temporary work visas expire, they must leave the United States. They are, in effect, the disposable workers of the U.S. economy.

U.S. workers suffer as a result of these flaws in the guestworker system. As long as employers in low-wage industries can rely on an endless stream of vulnerable guestworkers who lack basic labor protections, they will have little incentive to hire U.S. workers or make jobs more appealing to domestic workers by improving wages and working conditions. Not surprisingly, many H-2 employers discriminate against U.S. workers, preferring to hire guestworkers, even though they are required to certify that no domestic workers are available to fill their jobs. In addition, it is well-documented that wages for U.S. workers are depressed in industries that rely heavily on guestworkers.

This report is based on interviews with thousands of guestworkers, a review of the research on guestworker programs, scores of legal cases and the experiences of legal experts from around the country. The abuses described here are too common to blame on a few “bad apple” employers. They are the foreseeable outcomes of a system that treats foreign workers as commodities to be imported as needed without affording them adequate legal safeguards, the protections of the free market, or the opportunity to become full members of society.

When the Southern Poverty Law Center published the first version of this report in 2007, we recommended reform or repeal of the H-2 program. Unfortunately, even after the enactment of modest reforms in recent years, guestworker programs today are still inherently abusive and unfair to both U.S. and foreign workers.

In the past several years, the DOL has proposed two sets of regulations to better protect non-agricultural H-2 workers – one related to wage rate guarantees and one more comprehensive set of regulations. These regulations also would better protect the jobs and wages of U.S. workers. Unfortunately for workers, neither set of regulations has gone into effect; employers have filed multiple lawsuits challenging them, and Congress has effectively blocked implementation of the new wage regulations. For workers, then, the abuses continue unabated.

It is virtually impossible to create a guestworker program for low-wage workers that does not involve systemic abuse. The H-2 guestworker program should not be expanded in the name of immigration reform and should not be the model for the future flow of workers to this country. If the current H-2 program is allowed to continue, it should be completely overhauled. Recommendations for doing so appear at the end of this report.

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