Democracy & Civics

Trouble at the Roof of the World

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Water rights and free speech are the latest sparks that have inflamed protests in Tibet against the Chinese government. Hundreds of nomads — yak herders and others whose way of life seems to exist outside of politics and time — fought with police last month after a disagreement involving three teenage Tibetan monks and Chinese shopkeepers. The incident, in Baikar (in Chinese, Baiga Shang), Nagchu Prefecture (China’s Naqu Prefecture), ended with the monks being detained, and one severely beaten by police, witnesses told Radio Free Asia. Afterward, nomads gathered outside to demand the monks’ release. The mob’s numbers rose to almost 1,000 a day later, witnesses said, and soon began to grow violent, attacking government offices.

Democracy & Civics

Judge SeeksTerror Trial Jury Blackout

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A federal judge in Miami ordered jurors to be selected anonymously in the upcoming retrial of an alleged terrorist cell, citing concerns about the potential for jury tampering. The move, which is sometimes made in organized crime trials, will mean that potential jurors in the closely watched case will be referred to by number instead of by name. Jurors will also be investigated and supervised by the U.S. Marshals Service in order to guard against any outside influence or attempts at intimidation. “I do find there is a strong reason to believe that the jury needs protection,” said U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard. She cited an incident in which a defense lawyer in the case handed a complete list of names from a jury to a client’s mother, so that she could pray for a not guilty verdict.

Democracy & Civics

Muslim Teen's Slaying Sparks Canada Debate

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The slaying of a 16-year-old Muslim girl, allegedly by her father, has sparked a furor in the Canadian press and beyond. Aqsa Parvez died in a hospital last week, hours after a man called 911, saying he had killed his daughter. Parvez’s father was arrested and charged in her death. One of her brothers was charged with obstructing the investigation. Parvez and her Mississauga, Ontario, family were immigrants from Pakistan, and early reports said that she had fought with her father over her refusal to wear the traditional Muslim head scarf.

Democracy & Civics

Afghan Reconstruction Faces U.S. Budget Cuts

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An innovative reconstruction program in Afghanistan has been praised for giving decision-making power to small villages and communities, but may be shuttered due to funding shortfalls. Washington Monthly reports that Afghanistan’s National Solidarity Program is a success across the country, even in unstable areas where the Taliban still holds sway. Originally developed by a “maverick” World Bank officer in Indonesia, advocates say the NSP ensures a sense of ownership by involving all community members in public meetings to determine what local needs are, and allows their direct participation in subsequent construction and development. It also enforces local accountability by requiring full, public disclosure of fund uses and project timelines by village leaders to their constituents. The magazine reports that small public works projects in, such as hydropower and irrigation development, tend to stay intact in “low-security environments.”

Democracy & Civics

Protestors say Israel will Exclude Ethiopian Jews

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Hundreds of Ethiopian Jews demonstrated in Jerusalem on Monday, alleging that as many as 8,500 of their family and community members have been cut from Israel’s immigration program. The Jerusalem Post reports that demonstrators displayed photos of loved ones still in Ethiopia, while Avraham Neguise, a leader of the protests, accused the Israeli Interior Ministry of reneging on its promise. Another protestor told the newspaper that the decision to end Jewish immigration from Ethiopia is “definitely rooted in racism.” An Interior Ministry spokeswoman confirmed that the immigration program would be terminated in January, and also said that Neguise’s claims were false. Source:
“Ethiopians protests plan to cut Aliyah”
Jerusalem Post, December 18, 2007

Democracy & Civics

The Stirrings of Islamo-Liberalism

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Plenty of media attention has been given to fundamentalist Islam and Taliban-style “Islamo-fascism.” But three recent articles bring to light the persistence of democracy movements in the Muslim world, and a tolerant spirituality in Islam’s Sufi tradition. The Netherlands-based academic Asef Bayat notes in a recent essay that democracy in the Middle East is impossible without the emergence of a new type of Muslim citizen — “teachers, students, the young, women, workers, artists, and intellectuals” — that can spur a “post-Islamist” interpretation of the Koran supportive of democratic ideals. Though oppressive governments and religious teachings have impeded “post-Islamism” thus far, Bayat says change can emerge through an informed citizenry that asserts its values through daily cultural practice and activism. In fact, youth throughout the Middle East and North Africa are coming together to achieve just that, reports Wiretap Magazine, under the banner of a “cyberdemocracy” Web site called Mideast Youth (www.mideastyouth.com/).

Democracy & Civics

Things Looking Up for the Poor Down Under

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When Australia’s conservative government was voted out of office last month, much of the world’s media emphasized the possible ramifications for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — or the fact that the former singer of politically charged rockers Midnight Oil is now the nation’s environment minister. But the changes go much deeper than that. The newly installed government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is acting quickly to reverse the policies of previous Prime Minister John Howard on a wide range of social justice issues. This week, the government announced that it would discontinue the controversial “Pacific Solution,” whereby Asian refugees seeking asylum in Australia were held in camps in Papua New Guinea. The program, instated by Howard in 2001, had been assailed by human rights groups and the United Nations.

Democracy & Civics

Corruption Roils Alaska Politics

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With two oil executives headed to jail for giving hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal payments and “benefits” to prominent state politicians, Alaskans can look forward to plenty of court-watching in the months to come. According to The Christian Science Monitor, the appetite in Alaska extends beyond courtroom voyeurism, however, thanks to an array of oil-related issues — from corrosion in pipelines to disputes over the Exxon Valdez oil spill settlement. The issue came to a head on November 16, when Alaska’s legislature passed, with the support of Republican Governor Sarah Palin, a dramatic revision of the state’s “tainted” oil tax laws. The new oil-tax bill is expected to bring in an additional $1.5 billion in revenue to the state, closes loopholes, and limits investment credits and deductions. One industry official decried the new bill as a “feeding frenzy,” reports the Monitor, which also notes that ConocoPhillips canceled a $300 million refinery-upgrade project in response to the law.

Democracy & Civics

A Man, a Dam and a Salmon Plan

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A federal judge has rebuked the government for its latest plan to restore salmon runs along the Columbia and Snake rivers. According to The Oregonian, U.S. District Judge James A. Redden has declared that the government plan, like two previous plans he also rejected, won’t live up to the Endangered Species Act because it does not provide reasonable options for improving salmon habitat. The newspaper also writes that the judge has expressed doubts about the government’s “salmon science” — a view shared by Oregon state officials — and may convene his own panel of experts on the topic. By calling for officials to including the removal of several dams in their plan, Redden has positioned himself squarely against the Bush administration, which has “flatly refused” to consider any dam removals. If no plan is approved, Redden could declare all dam operations illegal, which would affect everything from irrigation to hydropower throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Democracy & Civics

Data Snooping and its Discontents

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The limits of data privacy are being tested in Western democracies, as governments and corporations push for greater access with sometimes unexpected results. British authorities demanded that a group of about 30 animal rights activists hand over the keys to encrypted files stored on computers that had been seized by police. The demand is the first of its kind under a recently enacted measure of the nation’s controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, reports BBC News. The provision of the law that deals with decryption was written to combat pedophiles and terrorists, although many critics say it is flawed and possibly even unenforceable. One of the animal rights activists, choosing to remain anonymous, told the BBC, “Even if they hate our guts my personal view is that this is a matter where there’s great issues of public interest that should be being talked about.”