Soundstorm: Why are DJs flocking to play in Saudi Arabia’s music festival?

Over 200 musicians will perform at a music festival that activists say only exists to whitewash the kingdom’s image abroad.


Saudi fans attend the "MDL Beast Fest", an electronic music festival, held in Banban on the outskirts of the Saudi capital Riyadh on 19 December 2019 (AFP)

By Matt Unicomb
Published date: 12 December 2021 

Between December 16 and 19, the airspace above Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Airport will see an influx of private jets from London, Berlin and Los Angeles.

It will not be businesspeople or royal functionaries on those planes, but some of the more than 200 colourfully dressed DJs and musicians booked to play at Soundstorm, a four-day electronic music festival that human rights activists say is part of a campaign by Saudi authorities to whitewash its international reputation.

'It hurts that someone who came from underground music can accept money from a government responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses'

- Annabel Ross, journalist

“After brutal crackdowns on activists, women’s rights defenders and the murder of [Saudi journalist] Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia’s image has taken blow after blow,” Hashem Hashem, a regional campaigner for Amnesty International based in Beirut, tells Middle East Eye.

“They are trying to attract foreigners by appearing to be a progressive kingdom. We’ve also been seeing concerts, Formula 1, golf tournaments and other sports events.”

Promising lasers, speaker stacks, smoke machines and giant disco balls, Soundstorm will host scenes more familiar to crowds in the United States and Europe than Saudi Arabia. A four-day pass costs 399 Saudi riyal, or around $106.

The first event of its kind took place in 2019, when 400,000 people attended the dance music festival MDL Beast, according to official figures. Artists and influencers paid to promote the festival were heavily criticised.

This year, as in 2019, most of the performing artists are from what is widely referred to as the EDM scene, where multi-millionaire DJs like David Guetta and Tiesto play trance and high-tempo hip-hop remixes at mega-raves, particularly popular in the US.

But at least 30 DJs on the lineup are from electronic music’s so-called “underground,” a term loosely used to describe the more subtle, repetitive genres of house and techno heard in clubs and warehouse parties across Europe.

Viewed by its followers as a more tasteful, purist form of dance music, it’s suited to night-long partying and hypnotising clubbers. Along with these more subtle sounds comes, according to many of its fans, a commitment to social justice and human rights.

Unlike DJs from the EDM scene, many underground music fans expect certain principles from their favourite DJs. There are numerous instances of high-profile house and techno names being outcast over sexist or homophobic statements. Many top artists boycott Israel and publicly comment on global injustices.

House and techno have origins in the US’s Black and queer communities, which developed these styles at raves in Chicago, Detroit and New York in the ’80s and ’90s.

Saudi Arabia’s prisoners of conscience  Read More »

Decades later, the underground electronic scene is, for many, still a place for personal liberation and safe freedom of expression. Many of its most popular DJs are openly queer and the scene’s most famous venue, Berghain, is a gay club. Hundreds of artists, including some of those performing at Soundstorm, use social media to regularly champion issues like feminism, antiracism and LGBTQ+ rights.

In 2020, the Belgian techno DJ Charlotte de Witte, who will perform at Soundstorm, used Twitter to condemn violence against women in Turkey. The same year, Lee Burridge, another DJ booked at Soundstorm, asked his followers to show “solidarity and empathy to those who need it most” in a lengthy Facebook post. Nina Kraviz, another DJ performing, regularly speaks out on women’s rights.

There are many more examples like these. But, as the bookings at Soundstorm make clear, there is a gap between the values held by many in the scene and the actions of its top DJs.

“It hurts that someone who came from underground music can accept money from a government responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in the world,” Annabel Ross, a music journalist who reports on sexism and abuse, tells MEE.
Puppets for the monarchy

At least one DJ playing at the festival has defended the decision, suggesting his set may play a role in bringing about change in the conservative kingdom. “Having such a large event and inviting DJs to play unrestricted might make some difference,” techno DJ Jeff Mills wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post.

Similarly, Stacey Piggott, a veteran Australian publicist, put a positive spin on international performers going to Saudi Arabia as a way to highlight human rights abuses in the kingdom.

“There will be millions of F1 fans who would have had no idea about the human rights issues in Saudi until this week. That awareness is a positive for activists,” she told MEE ahead of a panel discussion at Soundstorm about the local music industry.

But human rights activists say the DJs playing in Saudi Arabia are simply puppets for the monarchy.

'Women’s rights activists are raped in prisons, but no visitor will hear that from the government. And they think they will help Saudi society'

- Rana Ahmad, activist

“The message delivered through this event is whatever message the Saudi government wants delivered, not what the DJs want to show,” says Duaa Dhainy, a researcher at the European-Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, or ESOHR.

Research by ESOHR shows that Saudi Arabia has performed 64 executions in 2021, more than double last year. At least eight of those were for “high treason” or alleged political crimes, including Mustafa al-Darwish, who was executed at 26 for participating in anti-government protests when he was 17.

“The best way to deal with the human rights violations in Saudi Arabia is not to go,” says Dhainy. “This is what human rights groups ask.”

Rana Ahmad, a Saudi activist and author who fled to Germany, burst out laughing at the suggestion that DJs could be responsible for any kind of social change in the country.

“Mohammed bin Salman can pay a lot of money for anyone to play music or sport,” Ahmad tells MEE. “Women’s rights activists are raped in prisons, but no visitor will hear that from the government. And they think they will help Saudi society? It’s sad.”

In July, Human Rights Watch released a report highlighting the extent of the torture suffered by political prisoners in Saudi Arabia's prisons. The report offered further evidence that prisoners, such as women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, were subjected to violent treatment including electric shocks, beatings, whippings, and sexual threats.

Hathloul was released in February after three years in prison but is still subject to a travel ban.

A rare code of silence

MEE has reached out to over 10 DJs playing at Soundstorm for comments, but all either declined to be interviewed or did not respond to requests. In normal circumstances, DJs or their representatives reply to promotional inquiries within a few hours, eager to promote their next gig or release.

‘Fashion-washing’: How Saudi Arabia is using couture to improve its reputation

Read More »

DJs in the underground electronic music scene do not spend their days surrounded by minders and personal assistants. Anyone who’s been clubbing in Berlin or London for a few years could probably get a DJ’s phone number through friends of friends. This reflects their status not as household names, but as relatively niche performers, likely selected by Soundstorm concert programmers deeply familiar with underground music scenes in Europe and the US.

Saudi Arabia is known to offer high, tax-free salaries to workers who spend a year or two working on cultural projects in the kingdom.

Maurizio Schmitz, a booking agent affiliated with some of the DJs playing, declined to comment for this story. The same goes for Alex Jukes, whose press agency represents Charlotte de Witte. Phone enquiries to Temporary Secretary, the booking agency for Dixon and Move D, were also not returned.

Several Facebook posts from Jeff Mills responding to criticism have since been deleted.

Ahmad, the Saudi activist, was unsure if artists playing had been made to sign non-disclosure agreements, but said it was likely their contracts will prevent them from going anywhere in Riyadh without their official government minders.

“The visitors aren’t allowed contact with the regular people inside Saudi Arabia, only people from or working with the government,” she said.

Because no DJ agreed to answer questions, MEE could not verify this statement. Representatives from MDL Beast, Soundstream’s parent company, also did not respond to written requests for comment.
Cashing in

The lineup for Soundstorm, funded by Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, would likely have cost several million dollars to assemble, a booking agent in Berlin familiar with the industry tells MEE, suggesting that the festival could pay performance fees of at least triple the usual rate.

'The voices of the real Saudis can’t be heard, because human rights defenders are in prison'

- Duaa Dhainy, ESOHR

He estimated that, at a European festival, DJs like Dixon, Nina Kraviz and Amelie Lens could receive €25,000 ($28,138) for a two-hour performance. Booking agents, he says, may have taken advantage of Saudi Arabia’s deep pockets to multiply the fees for their artists, and increase the value of the industry-standard 15 percent commission they take home for themselves.

Lesser known European DJs on the bill, such as Move D and Thomas Melchior, would sometimes perform in European clubs for less than €2,000 ($2,250). They likely see a gig in Saudi Arabia as a quick payday.

Superstars from other fields have turned down offers to appear in Saudi Arabia for far bigger amounts. Nicky Minaj pulled out of an estimated $1.5m contract after pressure from human rights groups. Model-turned-author Emily Ratajkowski declined a paid invitation to appear at MDL Beast in 2019. Resident Advisor, a popular online platform for electronic music news and event listings, donated all proceeds from a £30,000 ($33,762) ad campaign for MDL Beast in 2019 to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

“Participating in such a festival is delivering the voice and image the Saudi government wants, even if you think you’re delivering something else,” says Dhainy.

“You’re not being hosted by the Saudis, but the Saudi government. The voices of the real Saudis can’t be heard, because human rights defenders are in prison.”

President Moon Jae-in: End to Korean War agreed to "in principle"

Rebecca Falconer
AXIOS

South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a ceremony in Australia's Parliament House in Canberra on Monday. Photo: Lukas Coch - Pool/Getty Images

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Monday the U.S., North Korea, his country and China have agreed "in principle" to declare a formal end to the Korean War. But they've yet to meet on the matter due to Pyongyang's demands.

Why it matters: Moon believes the move would help restart stalled negotiations between the countries on Pyongyang's denuclearization. A State Department spokesperson said in an emailed statement that U.S. officials were "prepared to meet without preconditions."

 
"We hope [North Korea] will respond positively to our outreach," the spokesperson added.

Context: There's been no formal treaty ending the 1950-53 Korean War. So South and North Korea are still technically at war, backed by the U.S. and China, respectively.

Driving the news: Moon said during a news conference in Canberra, Australia, that North Korean officials were insistent that the U.S. lift what they describe as a "hostile policy" toward the the country — a reference to American action such as sanctions over its nuclear weapons and missiles programs.
"Because of that, we are not able to sit down for a discussion or negotiation on the declarations" to officially end the war, Moon said.

"We hope that talks will be initiated," he added.

The bottom line: "The end-of-war declaration itself is not an ultimate goal," Moon said. But it would be an essential step in paving the way to restart negotiations on for denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula, he said.

Go deeper: Biden's Korean War diplomacy

The Analytical Angle: 

Can an effective local body system counter violent extremism and terrorism in Pakistan?

Decentralisation can serve as deterrence to terrorism and violent extremism in a society.

Javed Younas | Akbar Nasir Khan

Updated 04 Dec, 2021 

There is a growing realisation even at the top leadership of the state that perhaps nothing else poses a bigger threat to the stability of Pakistan than violent extremism and terrorism. It has damaged the tolerant culture using self-proclaimed religious superiority by some to harm those who hold differing views or follow different faiths. Despite the fact that radicalism has been spreading widely in our society, we still have little understanding of what motivates people to engage in militancy. Who is more likely to join the extremist groups? Do financial hardships, victimisation, marginalisation, stress, or traumatic life events push individuals into extremist beliefs? How do militant groups succeed in attracting others to join their ranks? Can people change their minds and walk away from such violence-promoting elements? Can local communities engage residents in positive activities and counter polarising ideologies? All of these questions demand serious deliberation.

We try to explore whether a representative, autonomous local body system can reduce the risks of someone indulging in political violence, including terrorism. According to the existing research evidence for countries confronted with such threats, the answer is a resounding yes. Multiple channels appear to play a role. In contrast to central control, decentralisation empowers the representative local governments to exercise greater autonomy over their own affairs. It provides decision-making authority to the elected representatives, improves service delivery, addresses minority concerns, and prioritises fiscal allocations to more pressing needs. In essence, it serves as a catalyst to identify and address grievances and issues early on, before they spiral out of control. The built-in feedback mechanism through community engagement and inclusive governance facilitates peaceful resolutions of conflicts.

Before digging further into the topic at hand, it is worth noting that typically three methods are used for devolving authority to lower tiers of government. Deconcentration redistributes central power across many levels of government offices, ensuring that distinct bureaucracies are responsible for distinct tasks and duties. Delegation involves the transfer of powers, mainly administrative duties, to semi-autonomous public agencies or third parties like housing authorities, transportation and waste disposal services, to name a few. Decentralisation, however, constitutes a major devolution of administrative, fiscal, and legislative responsibilities to the representative bodies elected from and by the local constituents. The constituents can vote the elected bodies out of office if they feel unsatisfied with their performance. The fear of retribution fosters healthy competition among the competing candidates. Participatory governance can thereby promote work efficiency, reduce social divisions and promote mutual trust.

Let us take a relevant example to understand how local leadership through community participation may act as a vanguard in monitoring suspicious activities in their areas. The governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2014 and Punjab in 2015 enacted a law, requiring property owners and managers —whether a house, hotel, or hostel — to provide information about any new tenant to the local police station. The purpose of the law was to develop a database that could help with the investigation of any terrorist or criminal activities. Although the right step, its implementation faced several practical issues. First, hardly any awareness campaign was launched to raise public understanding of the law. Second, both the fear of falling into uninvited trouble and public distrust of the police, the property owners hesitated from reporting information about the renters. Third, already resource-crunched, it was impossible for the police to go door to door for seeking information about any tenants in the area. Therefore, in order to identify individuals who may embrace an extremist ideology or pose a threat of violence, it is important for the police to work with the local leadership under a formal legal framework.

The question now is why has a representative local body system failed to take roots in Pakistan. This is despite the fact that Article 140-A of the constitution clearly states that, "Each Province shall, by legislation, create a local government system and transfer political, administrative, and financial responsibility and power to the elected representatives of the local governments". Furthermore, the constitution mandates the Election Commission to hold local body elections, meaning that only elected representatives can form such a government. At times, we see the federal government running effective programmes to support provincial governments, such as battling the Covid-19 pandemic, disbursing funds through the Ehsaas programme, or combating aftermaths of any natural calamity with the help of the armed forces of Pakistan. While such efforts greatly help in dealing with large-scale crises, they cannot substitute for the service delivery matters or governance issues in districts, tehsils or union councils.

A detailed study by Cheema, Khwaja and Qadir (2006), titled, “Local government reforms in Pakistan: context, content and causes”, examines why the local body system has been ineffective. They argue that to understand the current state of decentralisation in Pakistan, one must first comprehend its historical context. The British established local governments in India not by building on the traditional panchayat system and empowering locals, but by setting up a powerful, nominated office of Deputy Commissioner (DC) in districts. This colonial legacy continued post-independence, where the military regimes had been proactive in enacting local government reforms, while political governments either undermined or ignored these reforms. Because of the weak local body system and centrally controlled DCs, the power focus shifted towards maximising parliamentary seats in the federal and provincial assemblies to form a government. Moreover, the rivalry between the provincial and local governments over constituency politics did not bode well for the implementation of the decentralisation programme. Therefore, controlling districts through nominated and pliable bureaucracy became politically expedient for the ruling elites, whether military or civilian.

Albeit, the "Devolution of Power" plan of General Pervaiz Musharraf, launched in January 2000 and implemented following a series of local government elections, is widely regarded as the most radical decentralisation reforms effort in Pakistan. It restructured the sub-provincial government significantly by delegating the administrative and expenditures responsibilities to the elected local bodies. The newly formed office of District Coordination Officer (DCO), formerly DC, now reported to the elected head of the local government. Furthermore, DCO also could no longer exercise the executive magistracy and revenue collection powers of the old DC system. While most public service delivery matters came under the purview of the local governments, their ability to raise revenue remained limited with a heavy dependence on funds on the discretion of the central or provincial governments. Clearly, as with any other system, a solid foundation of the local government system needed further structural changes in order to be truly independent and autonomous. Yet, this devolution plan made the local government system both effective and responsive to local needs. However, following the waning power of Musharraf after 2007, this system started to lose its ground. Unnecessary delays in the approval and disbursement of funds for projects planned by the local governments hindered their ability to serve the people at the grassroots level.

Nearly all data sources on terrorism show that after 1990 the incidents of both domestic and transnational terrorism were lowest during the period 2000-2007 in Pakistan. Figures 1 and 2 on the trends in number of overall terrorist incidents in Pakistan as well as in its provinces confirm this fact (data for these graphs come from the Global Terrorism Database). Despite its other flaws, this period is recognised as the best era for decentralisation in the country, where the local governments enjoyed substantial budgetary, administrative, and political control. While correlation does not imply causation, research evidence from a panel of countries supports the terrorism-mitigating effect of decentralisation.

Decentralisation can serve as deterrence to terrorism and violent extremism in a society. On one hand, communities acting as watchdogs make it more difficult for someone to engage in organised violence. On the other hand, alternative work opportunities, generated by improved governance and market incentives, yield greater financial rewards. The bottom line is that unless we make structural changes to the way we govern ourselves, we may just continue to stumble from one tragedy to another, whether caused by internal or external forces.

---

The Analytical Angle is a monthly column where top researchers bring rigorous evidence to policy debates in Pakistan. The series is a collaboration between the Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan and Dawn.com. The views expressed are the authors’ alone.

PAKISTAN

Costs of corruption
Huma Yusuf

DWAN.COM

Published December 13, 2021 

WE were promised Riyasat-i-Madina. Instead, Transparency International’s National Corruption Perception Survey, conducted this year across all four provinces, reiterates how rampant corruption is in Pakistan. The report’s findings have already warranted economic and political analysis. But it’s time we also focused on the social consequences of endemic corruption.

TI’s survey found that 85.9 per cent of respondents consider the government’s self-accountability to be lacking. More tellingly, a majority (66.8pc) believe the government’s accountability drive is biased. The drivers of corruption are perceived to be weak accountability (according to 51.9pc of respondents) and the insatiable greed of the powerful (29.3pc). And almost 73pc of surveyed Pakistanis believe that the lack of local government structures has spurred public-sector corruption at the grassroots level.

The economic costs of rampant corruption are well known. Almost a decade ago, then NAB chairman Fasih Bokhari estimated that Pakistan loses around Rs7 billion per day to corruption. One can only imagine what that figure is today. Studies have also shown that corruption stunts economic growth (while making it less inclusive), limits tax revenues and deters both domestic and foreign investment. Corruption doesn’t just skew income distribution, it makes us all poorer.

The political costs are also apparent. The government maligned the opposition with charges of corruption, and now it faces the same allegations. Writing in The Friday Times, Najam Sethi last week described the perception statistics in TI’s report as a “damning indictment of the PTI regime”. He also implied that political corruption breeds corruption, arguing that the prime minister’s current attempts to undermine and browbeat the ECP are likely in anticipation of indictment in the foreign funding case. That long-running drama, which is now nearing conclusion, may reveal some PTI members to have diverted and benefited from foreign financial flows.

Corruption doesn’t just skew income distribution, it makes us all poorer.

The findings of the foreign funding case and the ECP showdown will lead to more political instability, and the revolving door of corrupt Pakistani leaders will continue to turn. And that’s why we must instead prioritise the social implications of rampant corruption.

TI’s report shows that the police (41.4pc), judiciary (17.4pc) and public procurement (10.3pc) are considered the most corrupt sectors. And sadly, in the year after a pandemic, the health sector has climbed to fourth place (the auditor general’s report last month claiming irregularities of up to Rs40bn in finances meant for the country’s coronavirus response may have caused this ranking to climb even higher). Respondents also emphasise the burden of paying a bribe to receive public services (such as water and sanitation). And the judicial backlog looms large, with more than 46,000 cases pending at the Supreme Court, and more than 1.7 million at district courts.

The institutions perceived as the most corrupt are those citizens turn to for security, justice, well-being and basic service provision. That most Pakistanis believe the state’s most fundamental offerings to be corrupt explains why there’s such little public trust in the Pakistani state. If daily interactions — basic expectations, and the only hope for recourse — are marred by venality, then how can there be trust in the state? Why shouldn’t it be reconceived as an extractive and exploitative service provider to protect and enhance the interests of the few at the expense of the many?

Here’s the rub. When you don’t trust the state, you turn elsewhere. To religious movements or violent extremist groups that offer alternative narratives of righteousness and restore your sense of empowerment. It may seem like a stretch to link perceptions of corruption with Priyantha Diyawadana’s brutal lynching, but it’s not.

Studies coming out of the US show that perceptions of corruption are higher among marginalised or discriminated against groups that are less likely to have access to power, political representation or justice. The widespread experience of corruption in Pakistan also likely drives feelings of marginalisation, which, when not routed through healthy channels (local government, civil society activism, student politics) increase susceptibility to radical thought and extremist movements. Enter the TLP. Other studies have established links between corruption and ethnopolitical violence.

The first formal response to the TI report has been the acceptance in a Gujranwala court of a petition against TI’s chairperson for targeting the judiciary. Rather than trying to silence the messenger, our state institutions need to heed the message. Corruption must be meaningfully tackled not just to drive prosperity and ensure political stability, but to prevent Pakistan’s social fabric from fraying any further.

The writer is a political and integrity risk analyst.

Age of democratic erosion
Maleeha Lodhi

Published December 13, 2021 

PRESIDENT Joe Biden’s initiative to hold a virtual ‘Summit for Democracy’ has been variously interpreted. Many in the West saw this as a timely effort to reinvigorate democracies, put the issue back on the US foreign policy agenda and sharpen the focus on the ‘battle’ against autocracies. Others read the move as another effort in Washington’s counter-China strategy to mobilise democratic states and reinforce the idea that an ideological conflict is to be waged. The latter interpretation strengthened the view that the Biden administration is injecting a ‘cold war’ dimension into its competition with China.

Whatever the motive there is no getting away from the fact that democracies everywhere face challenges from the rising forces of intolerance. Today democracies in many parts of the world are far from being shining examples of equal liberties for all and respect for institutions and human rights. In fact, most democracies now are in serious disrepair and need to fix their multiple weaknesses and deficiencies. Political polarisation and toxic politics seem to have become a worldwide phenomenon now. This denudes democratic systems of the essential ingredients to make them work effectively — tolerance, consensus and accommodating diverse opinion.

The Global State of Democracy Report 2021, published by a Sweden-based research institute, highlights what it calls ‘democratic erosion’. It says “the quality of democracy continues to travel a very visible downward path across the board”. Democratic governments, according to the report, have been mimicking the practices of authoritarian regimes and this “democratic backsliding” is “threatening to become a different kind of pandemic”. It “now afflicts very large and influential democracies that account for a quarter of the world’s population”. This at a time when the percentage of people living in a democracy has also plunged to its lowest point since 1991.

Read: Democracy slipping away at record rate, warns IDEA

One of the two most egregious examples of democratic erosion is in our neighbourhood — India, while the other is among the world’s oldest democracies, the US. Indian democracy has in recent years been challenged by the rise of right-wing nationalist populism, also evidenced across the world, with so-called strongmen rule holding sway. This has entailed elected leaders acting with impunity to erode civil liberties, curb freedom of expression, suppress dissent and undermine democratic norms. The perversion of Indian democracy and its descent into authoritarianism has however gone much further with the assault on the state’s formal secularism by the ruling party’s Hindutva ideology and its active mobilisation of anti-Muslim and anti-minority sentiment. This has fuelled violent religious discord and the most vicious mob attacks on minorities.

Read: India has now become the sick man of South Asia

Democratic decline is now a global trend which reflects growing intolerance around the world.

Democratic erosion in the US has assumed a different form but has also resulted in regression. The rise of Trumpian populism in recent years has seen the mainstreaming and empowerment of racist and white supremist groups and sentiment that has fuelled racial unrest and deeply divided the country. Moreover, polarisation has steadily eroded the political middle ground, produced partisan gridlock and made even minimal consensus to run the political system elusive, leaving it in a dysfunctional state. Lack of respect for democratic norms and institutions reflected in Trump’s whimsical rule has outlasted him. It is reflected most notably in the way many Republican-run states are making changes to election laws and voting rules. In at least 19 states Republican-controlled state legislatures have enacted laws that restrict voting rights.

This has set off alarm bells about the future of democracy in the US. A statement signed earlier this year by over a hundred American scholars warned of the danger to democracy by such actions which were politicising the electoral system and could call into question the fairness and credibility of future elections. The wider public seems to share this view. Two-thirds of Americans believe their country’s democracy is under threat according to a July 2021 PBS/NPR poll.

The US is no exception to a global trend also playing out in central Europe where leaders including Victor Orbán in Hungary, Andrzej Duda in Poland and an aspiring ‘elected autocrat’ Herbert Kickl in Austria represent the far right that has manipulated xenophobic nationalism and mobilised anti-immigration sentiment to seize power. Then there is Brazil’s far right populist President Jair Bolsonaro in Latin America’s largest democracy. Many such populists once they are elected concentrate power, subvert democracy and engage in reckless politics and authoritarian practices.

The trend towards authoritarianism in the last decade or more raises the question of what are the underlying factors responsible for the phenomenon and rise of populist leaders. This cannot be attributed to any uniform set of factors as each country’s case is different with specific dynamics and variables shaping its political trajectory and landscape. Some common features can nevertheless be identified. They include the failure of established political parties and their policies to meet heightened public expectations, growing disconnect between political elites and people, poor governance, increasing inequality, lack of responsiveness by institutions to public concerns, political polarisation, economic and social discontent, uncertainties spawned by globalisation and role of the social media.

What about Pakistan’s democratic record? The country’s chequered political history has seen it alternate between periods of fragile democracy and long bouts of military rule. The post-1980s democratic experience has been replete with ousters of elected governments, well short of completing their term, by military-backed actions undertaken either by previously powerful presidents or the judiciary. In such an environment democratic values and norms could barely take root while the politics of intolerance practised by several civilian governments also played into the hands of the ubiquitous establishment. Today Pakistan’s democracy has an elected government but in a political system popularly known as ‘hybrid’, to indicate the influence exercised by the military over national affairs and governance. This has further distorted the working of democracy. So have the actions of a government that treats political opposition as illegitimate, shows little tolerance for criticism or dissent and prefers to rule unilaterally. Pakistan’s democracy has regressed in recent years but for reasons somewhat different from those challenging democracy elsewhere. What it has in common with democratic decline across the world is an environment of growing intolerance that is both a cause and consequence of democratic erosion.

The writer is a former ambassador to the US, UK & UN.
Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2021

PAKISTAN

PM Imran assures Gwadar protesters of action against illegal fishing

Saleem Shahid | Syed Irfan Raza

DAWN.COM

Published December 13, 2021 

Scores of women take part in a rally in Gwadar for basic rights on Nov 29.

 — Photo provided by Ghalib Nihad

• Rights leader awaits practical steps
• CM’s aide says release of boats not in provincial domain
• Solidarity Day rallies staged in Balochistan districts

ISLAMABAD / QUETTA: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said that demands of the coastal community of Gwadar were ‘very legitimate’ and announced that he would take up the matter with Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo.

The intervention by Prime Min­ister Khan came nearly a month after the Gwadar fishermen took to the streets to press the government for their dem­ands including halt to illegal fishing.

Mr Khan vowed to take ‘strong’ action against illegal fishing by trawlers. “I have taken notice of the very legitimate demands of hardworking fishermen of Gwa­dar. Will be taking strong action against illegal fishing by trawlers and will speak to CM Balochistan,” the premier tweeted.

While both CM Bizenjo and leader of the Gwadar protest movement Maulana Hidayatur Rehman hailed the PM’s tweet, the latter pointed out that the real issue was fulfillment of promises.

A senator belonging to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), meanwhile, told the state-run TV channel that some demands of the local fishermen were unacceptable. “If some of these demands are met, the government will have to provide such facilities to all people of the country,” Senator Abdul Qadir, who hails from Balochistan, said.

Fishermen in large numbers along with women and children have been protesting on the shores of Gwadar for past 28 days to press the relevant authorities for elimination of illegal fishing by trawlers, removal of Gwadar Development Authority director general as well as Pasni’s deputy commissioners and assistant commissioner, cross-border trade with Iran, provision of clean drinking water, closure of wine shops, jobs, job quota for disabled and free 300 units of electricity.

Led by Maulana Hidayatur Rehman, Balochistan gen­­eral secretary of the Ja­­m­a­at-i-Islami, the protesters have vowed to continue their protest till the achievement of their ‘rights’. They blocked roads and other places by holding rallies and staging a sit-in.

Adviser to the CM on Home and Tribal Affairs Mir Ziaullah Langau told a PTV show that the Balochistan government had already fulfilled most of their 19 demands and vowed to take stern action against what he called “illegal trawlers mafia”.

Regarding one of the three remaining complaints, the CM’s aide said Maulana Rehman had recently admitted during a meeting that illegal fishing by trawlers had ‘declined’ though at the same time he feared a resurge in the activity if the protesters ended their sit-in.

About their boats and vehicles that had been confiscated under the Customs Act, the adviser said he had informed the protesters that it was an act of the federal government and was “out of the domain of Balochistan government”.

Speaking to Dawn, PTI Senator Abdul Qadir said some of their demands were ‘unacceptable’. “If some of these demands are met, the government will have to provide such facilities to all people of the country. For example, fishermen are demanding free 300 units of electricity, cross-border trade with Iran and use of non-custom duty paid cars,” he said before adding that people of Gwadar already enjoyed those facilities which were unavailable to those residing in other parts of Balochistan.

The senator said some ‘anti-state’ elements were provoking the fisherman against the government in order to create unrest in the port city.

The Gwadar rights movement leader also lauded the tweet of PM Khan saying: “We are not stubborn and believe in solution of the issues” though the prime minister took notice of the demands after their protest entered 28th day. He said the protest would continue as the people awaited practical steps to meet all the demands, which were very much legitimate.

He said the PM did not talk about some other important issues including opening of border, power and water issues and return of the confiscated boats and vehicles.

Despite official notifications issued by the provincial government, no step had been taken to fulfill those promises, he said. “We want implementation as our people are deprived of their livelihoods due to the restrictions,” he said.

Maulana Rehman had earlier said the protest would continue until the acceptance of two major demands — action against ‘trawler mafia’ and cross-border trade with Iran — out of the 19 demands.

While hailing the assurance given by the prime minister, CM Bizenjo said the assurance was encouraging. He claimed that the steps demanded by the Gwadar rights movement, which came under the purview of the provincial government, were already being implemented as per its policy.

“Relevant provincial departments are ensuring prevention of illegal fishing and trawling,” he said, adding that unnecessary checkpoints and token system for border trade had already been abolished. He said licences of wine shops had been canceled in Gwadar and funds had been released for urgent solution to the drinking water problems as well as for the Gwadar old city development plan.

“Some other demands, including electricity, are related to the federal government,” the CM said, expressing the hope that the demands related to the federation would also be resolved with better coordination between relevant departments and agencies to curb illegal trawling.

However, to end the standoff, National Party Secretary General Mir Jan Mohammad Buledi urged the government to immediately hold meaningful negotiations with representatives of the protesters.

Rallies were also staged in other parts of the province to mark ‘Balochistan Solidarity Day’ on the call of Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq.

Protest demonstrations were staged in Quetta, Dera Murad Jamali, Jaffarabad, Zhob, Sui, Dera Bugti, Bela, Khuzdar, Duki and several other districts to press the provincial and federal authorities for the demands of Gwadar rights movement.

Ali Jan Mangi in Dera Murad Jamali also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2021

PAKISTAN

State of human rights

Editorial

DAWN.COM

Published December 13, 2021

IN the run-up to World Human Rights Day observed last week, Pakistani society exposed its worst instincts as a mob lynched a factory manager and an infuriated crowd allegedly stripped four women rag-pickers. What was also apparent was the state’s inability to act in time. Or did it deliberately keep itself in the dark?

It is, in fact, a selective blindness that prevents the state from ensuring the fundamental and constitutional rights of the people, in spite of the laws of the land and the international conventions it has ratified. Indeed, it is dichotomous approach: on the one hand it has professed its aim of truly becoming a welfare state, whereas on the other it has turned a blind eye to the people’s sufferings, and in fact, has become a party to them — as evident in the massive eviction drives in urban areas that has left thousands without a roof over their heads.

This year’s theme for World Human Rights Day, ‘reducing inequalities — advancing human rights’, is an apt reminder of the many deadly blows that have been dealt to the already fragile state of equality and justice in the country.

We have seen peaceful protesters such as teachers, students, health workers and residents, whose homes have been reduced to rubble, encounter the full might of the state, whereas tolerance is reserved for ultra-conservative elements who control the streets or even kill and maim in the name of religion. Similarly, there are those who go missing when they raise a voice for the rights of their people, never to be seen again, while there is no accountability of the elements whose actions led to their disappearance in the first place.

Unfortunately, when the state does not believe in an even-handed approach in the application of justice, a sense of impunity seeps into society itself — not surprising when we consider that the public takes its cue from those who govern them. Unfortunately, successive governments have viewed even basic human rights as acts of charity to be dispensed at will. This mindset is reflected in practically all spheres of life, including the justice system itself. And it is what prevents the state from investing in policies and institutions for human and social development that could have rescued the people from the forces of exploitation. Respect for human rights in the country can only be instituted when the state is ready to admit and rectify its own approach.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2021

Thousands of Salvadorans protest against corruption

Women shout slogans during a protest against Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in San Salvador (Photo: AFP/MARVIN RECINOS)

13 Dec 2021

SAN SALVADOR: Thousands of people protested Sunday (Dec 12) in El Salvador's capital against corruption and what they see as a drift towards authoritarianism, days after the United States announced sanctions against a close aide of President Nayib Bukele.

Bukele has drawn criticism for making bitcoin legal tender in the country, suggesting the volatile cryptocurrency will help revitalise its struggling economy, and for legal reforms which critics say are attacks on the independence of the country's judiciary.

"As a country, we have had enough of the way public officials abuse state resources, which belong to the people," lawyer Eduardo Alvarenga, 37, told AFP during the demonstration, as he carried a sign calling for an end to corruption..

Current and former judges took part in the protest, calling for respect for the separation of powers after Congress - which is dominated by the ruling party - dismissed all judges of the Supreme Court's constitutional chamber and judges over the age of 60.

The new Bukele-aligned court then gave the green light for him to run for reelection in 2024 - despite a constitutional one-term limit.

"We are marching today as judges to defend the constitution and the rule of law," said former judge Jorge Guzman, who resigned in solidarity with his sacked colleagues.

On Thursday, Washington imposed economic sanctions on Bukele's chief of staff Carolina Recinos for alleged corruption - charges the Salvadoran leader called "absurd".

After the rally, which unfolded without incident, Bukele lashed out at the US government.

"US taxpayers should know that their government is using their money to fund communist movements against a democratically elected (and with a 90 per cent approval rating) government in El Salvador," he tweeted.

After UAE law change, out-of-wedlock babies still in shadows

By ISABEL DEBRE


1 of 6

Maya, 36, plays with her one-year-old undocumented daughter in a dank, overstuffed section of an apartment, subdivided by hinged partitions, that she shares with eight other women, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021. A year after the United Arab Emirates decriminalized premarital sex in a bold expansion of personal freedoms, the law has struggled to fulfill its promise. Unwed mothers may no longer land in jail, but they're caught in bureaucratic limbo, fighting to obtain birth certificates for their babies born in the shadows. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)


SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Over a dozen unmarried women huddled in a jail cell south of Dubai last year, locked up for the crime of giving birth, when a guard entered and declared them free.

The incident, described by one of the women, was among the first concrete signs that the United Arab Emirates had decriminalized premarital sex in an overhaul of its Islamic penal code.

But a year later, these unwed mothers remain trapped in limbo, fighting to obtain birth certificates for babies born in the shadows.

A new law that comes into effect in two weeks still does not offer unmarried women a clear path to acquiring birth certificates for their babies. At the same time, the law criminalizes women lacking such documents.

Although unwed mothers no longer face jail after the UAE legalized premarital sex in November 2020, they now face a maze of red tape.

Obtaining birth certificates for their babies is a costly process that the country’s poorest residents — foreign workers who clean offices, serve food and care for the children of other mothers — cannot afford. Expats outnumber locals by nearly nine to one in the Emirates.

“We were so full of hope,” said Star, one of those released from Sharjah Central Jail in December 2020 with her 3-month-old daughter. “Then came trouble I didn’t think I’d have the strength to get through.”

Star gave only her first name for fear of reprisals. She and six other unmarried women, most of them Filipinas, described their legal battles to The Associated Press.

Before last year’s law change, several had given birth at hospitals, where health authorities denied them birth certificates and called the police. Others withdrew to their shared apartments, scared and alone, to have their babies.

In the UAE, hospitals issue birth certificates only to married parents. Without the certificates, children are unable to receive medical care, attend school or travel. Their mothers, who lost work and residency during prosecution under the old law, become stranded. The number of undocumented children in the UAE is not known.

Lawyers say the obstacles stem from an enduring conservative mindset and lack of government coordination.

Some women even yearn for the previous punishment, typically one-year detention and deportation. While terrifying, it at least guaranteed a flight home and identity documents for their children.

“It has only gotten harder since the law changed,” said 25-year-old mother Sitte Honey. “They won’t take you to jail and they don’t want you to give birth,” she added, noting abortion is also forbidden. “We’re stuck.”

Dirar Belhoul Al Falasi, a member of the UAE’s advisory Federal National Council, argued last year’s decriminalization had an impact.

“Prior to this, there was nothing in my hand to legalize what they have,” he told the AP. “But now, there is a law … that we can help them with.”

Under a new law that comes into force on Jan. 2, parents who fail to document their children face a minimum of two years in prison. It makes no reference to health authorities issuing birth certificates to single mothers. The law demands that parents marry or acquire travel documents and other paperwork to prove their children’s identities, without detailing how.

That has stoked panic among unmarried mothers who fear further punishment.

Last year, as lawyers scrambled to understand the opaque legal code, women like Star walked out of jail across the country. Conditions at the facilities varied and in some, mothers were separated from their children.

Star said her daughter was taken from her during detention. She said 15 women shared a single bathroom, subsisted on only rice and bread and were let out 30 minutes each day for fresh air. Other women described police interrogations about their sexual history as deeply humiliating.

But after these women were freed, they still couldn’t get the one thing they wanted most: identity documents.

Maya, a 36-year-old mother, turned herself into authorities in November 2020 when she heard it would help her get a birth certificate for her 1-year-old. After several torturous weeks in Dubai’s Al Qusais Police Station, authorities became alerted to the law change and freed her. But they never granted legal status to her daughter, forcing her to ricochet from one government office to another in her quest.

“These massive fundamental changes are highly welcome, but so much still needs to catch up,” said Ludmila Yamalova, managing partner of LYLAW, a firm taking on cases of unwed mothers.

“Emotionally and mentally, people are not prepared to accept the law as reality,” she added, referring to health and law enforcement agencies.

Women continue to raise undocumented children in secret. Noraida Gamama, desperate to document her 3-year-old daughter, has plastered the door of her Sharjah apartment with signs warning her half-dozen roommates to check the peephole before answering to ensure it’s not a government official.

Living on expired visas and struggling to feed infants on wisps of income, many can’t afford court fees and lawyers’ bills. It costs over $350 to open a birth certificate petition case independently at Dubai’s Family Court.

Ann, 36, works multiple part-time jobs, sleeping a few hours a night, to feed her undocumented 2-year-old girl. She recounted the agony of delivering her on the floor of a rented Dubai room. “All I want is to give her a name, to bring her back to the Philippines where she could live a better life,” Ann said.

Still, a growing number of women are taking their cases to court, with mixed success. A clerk at one Dubai court said the system handled over 50 “baby cases” daily.

When Honey discovered she was pregnant with her boyfriend’s child two years ago, she appealed to the Philippine Consulate to send her home. But while waiting for help that never came, baby Naya was born in her tiny apartment.

Lacking legal status after fleeing abusive employers who confiscated her passport, Honey has grown desperate to get out of Dubai. But authorities cannot repatriate her until Naya gets papers.

“This is a nightmare. No money, no visa, no rent, no plan,” Honey said.

To hasten her return, Honey’s 47-year-old mother moved to Qatar as a housemaid, pulling together the money needed to open a case in Dubai last month. She’s still waiting for her first hearing and trying to get a written acknowledgement of paternity from her ex-boyfriend.

The process requires an unwed mother to provide a ream of personal documents, take a DNA test and testify before a judge. If the judge approves, the mother may request her child’s birth certificate.

Some, like Star, have persevered and made it through.

“That kind of joy is overwhelming, to know your daughter is not illegal anymore,” Star said from her family’s home in Davao City, Philippines. “It’s like I’m breathing for the first time.”

‘A way we resist’: Quilts honor victims of racial violence

By LEAH WILLINGHAM

1 of 10

Gloria Green-McCray, the younger sister of James Earl Green, who along with Phillip Lafayette Gibbs were killed by Mississippi Highway Patrolmen in 1970 on the campus of Jackson State, reacts to viewing a section of one of two hand crafted quilts adorned with more than 115 cross-stitched portraits honoring African Americans who lost their lives to racial violence, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, on the university's campus in Jackson, Miss. The quilts are part of the Stitch Their Name Memorial Project, on display at the Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Long after he was killed, Myrtle Green-Burton wouldn’t let anyone wear her 17-year-old son’s high school track team jacket.

James Earl Green, an aspiring Olympic runner, was supposed to receive the green and yellow coat at his graduation in Mississippi half a century ago. It became a symbol of his life — and her loss, said his sister Gloria Green-McCray.

“She just kept it until it dry-rotted because that was all she really had to remember his dream — his vision,” Green-McCray said of her mother.

A cross-stitch portrait of Green wearing his track jacket is now included with 115 others in a quilting project dedicated to memorializing lives lost to racial violence in the U.S. The two quilts are open for public viewing on weekdays through Dec. 17 at Jackson State University’s Margaret Walker Center.

James Earl Green and 21-year-old Jackson State student Phillip Lafayette Gibbs were fatally shot on the Jackson State campus during a violent police response to a protest against racial injustice in 1970. Green was not a student at the historically Black university, but was walking through the campus on his way home from his grocery store job.

Twelve more people were injured. No officer ever faced criminal charges.

On a visit to Jackson State’s campus last week to see the portrait, Green-McCray, now in her late 60s, recalled her older brother’s ambitions of running in college and then in the Olympics. In the weeks leading up to his death, graduating and getting that track jacket were all he could talk about, she said.

“He didn’t get the chance to wear it,” she said, reaching out and running her finger across the tiny portrait.

The Stitch Their Names Memorial Project was started by Eugene, Oregon, high school math teacher Holli Johannes in July 2020 as so many around the U.S. reckoned with the country’s legacy of systematic racism in the wake of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police. A group of 75 stitchers from across the U.S. and beyond worked together to construct the two quilts and a website containing biographies of each victim.

Johannes said they wanted to create a piece of art that would humanize the lives lost.

Each stitcher took a different, personalized approach: Some portraits are headshots, some full-body. They include different backdrops and details to inform viewers about the victims’ lives.

Elijah McClain, 23, a massage therapist killed by police in Aurora, Colorado, in 2019, is pictured playing the violin next to a tabby cat. McClain loved animals and taught himself how to play the guitar and violin.

John Crawford III, 22, was killed by police inside a Beavercreek, Ohio, Walmart store in 2014. He is depicted with his two young sons.

Gibbs — killed in Jackson the same night as Green — is wearing a gray suit. He was studying to be a lawyer.

Ebony Lumumba, department chair and associate professor of English at Jackson State, said quilting has long been a powerful form of activism and of reclaiming history — especially for Black women in America, whose voices are often overlooked.

“It’s a history that sometimes supersedes what can be written down,” said Lumumba, who is also the city of Jackson’s first lady. “That’s significant for our community because we have been denied the privilege of being documented for so many centuries and so this is one of the ways that we resist that.”

At Jackson State, Green-McCray said she hadn’t seen a quilt made since she was a little girl — the ones stitched by the women who raised her. She remembered how quilting was a form of storytelling for them. Her mother would piece together quilts using pieces of aprons, hats and dresses from her grandmother.

“Each little piece represents something — each piece had a significant meaning,” she said. “It was not just a piece of cloth, but it was a piece of history, a piece of that person.”

Green-McCray said the quilts would evoke memories, even of a time before she was born — a reminder of “the struggle of survival.”

“It’s like you re-live it,” she said. “My mother came from a family of sharecroppers, old slaves, and I can remember the history.”

Green-McCray said if people don’t learn about history, it repeats itself. When her brother was killed, everyone asked her, “‘Do you think this will ever happen again?’”

“At that time, we was thinking it was going to soon end, and it will never happen again,” she said. “Now today, you see them saying ‘Black Lives Matter,’ and that really grieves my spirit. We’ve come a long way, but we still got such a long way to go.”

___

Leah Willingham is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.