Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Brazil's biggest problem isn't corruption — it's murder


Somewhere between outraged and perplexed, Brazilians have been bombarded with news about their political underworld, covering everything from graft scandals and political intrigues to, on June 10, a narrow Supreme Court vote to save Michel Temer’s presidency.

Recently, the Brazilian version of the Netflix series House of Cards even tweeted that it’s “hard to compete” with the country’s realpolitik.




But rampant public corruption is not the only threat to Brazil’s democracy. It’s not even the most dangerous one.

Social panic


Brazil is one of the world’s murder capitals, with 60,000 homicides every year in a population of almost 208 million. Fully 10% of all people killed globally each year are Brazilians.

As demonstrated during recent bloody prison uprisings and police strikes in Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro, the authorities seem incapable of dealing with the problem.

There have been some successful public safety initiatives over the past decade. Police reforms and anti-violence initiatives in Rio de Janeiro and Pernambuco managed to reduce homicide rates by up to 50%, but only temporarily. In these places, too, murder is on the rise.

Almost 50 million Brazilians aged 16 or older – nearly a third of the adult population – know someone who has been murdered, according to research conducted for Instinto de Vida (Life Instinct), an Open Society Foundations-funded campaign shedding light on Latin America’s homicide problem.

Almost 5 million have been injured by firearms and some 15 million know someone who was killed by the police, one of the world’s deadliest forces.

In Rio de Janeiro’s poor favelas, frequent military-style police operations and extrajudicial police killings of alleged gang members are common. Locals live in daily panic.

The social hysteria caused by Brazil’s homicide crisis, combined with growing disillusionment with politics, is giving rise a markedly undemocratic strain of politics.

Today, public officials regularly invoke sexist, racist and xenophobic discourses to justify punitive policies that criminalise huge swaths of society, from gang members to drug users and ethnic minorities.

Like Donald Trump, France’s Marine Le Pen and Holland’s Geert Wilders, who all use the threat of terrorism to stoke fear and intolerance, Brazilian leaders, too, have determined that imposing order is more important than building a stronger society. Only here, fear is fuelled by unceasing violence and the clear incapacity of public security institutions to address the problem.

According to a survey by the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, 36% of the Brazilian population feels satisfied with the police; only 25% say they trust them. This distrust exacerbates perceptions of danger.



Brazil’s authoritarian personality


At this juncture, Brazilians might seek out leaders who reject violence and impunity. Instead, they seem inclined to dismantle the post-dictatorship-era rule of law heralded by the 1988 Constitution, signed after democracy was restored.

According to unpublished national survey by the NGO Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, which interviewed 2,087 people across the nation, 69% of Brazilians aged 16 or older agree that “what this country needs, above all, before laws or political plans, is some brave leaders, tireless and dedicated in whom the people can deposit their faith”.

Fans of German philosophy may recognise that sentence; it’s a translation of a question from Theodor Adorno’s 1950 classic study on the authoritarian personality. In it, Adorno sought to understand how Nazism had attracted so many Germans in the early 20th century, concluding that periods of crisis are fertile for the advance of authoritarianism.

Looking at Adorno’s study alongside the Brazilian Forum’s results makes for dire forecasts about Brazil’s democratic future.





Bolsonaro, centre, openly longs for dictatorship.



The national desire for authoritarian leadership is personified by Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain from Rio de Janeiro state who is expected to run for president in 2018. Bolsonaro, who openly calls for a return to military rule in Brazil, draws large crowds to gymnasiums and schools across the country with speeches that denounce the “human rights agenda”. He has 4.35 million Facebook followers.

Police officers – the same force that, in theory, should be guardians of the law – are quite taken with him. For cops, who confront Brazil’s dangerously out-of-hand criminality every day, it seems becoming hardline on law and order is starting to sound pretty good.




A corrosive process


Perhaps unsurprisingly for a country where evangelical Christianity is exploding in popularity, the study found that 64% of respondents also believe that “we should all have absolute faith in a supernatural power, whose decisions we must abide by.”

As religiosity infiltrates Brazil’s politics, faith is becoming something of a new order, creating a complex symbiosis between state and religion that organically influences public opinion and policy-making.

When people believe that “the policeman is a warrior of God who must impose order and protect the good people” – an opinion held by 53% of Brazilians – it justifies two damaging behaviours. First, it condones widespread police brutality, and, second it allows for tolerance of local rule by criminal organisations (because if you can overpower the agents of God, then you can definitely impose your will on the population).

Infusing public order with private morality to justify authoritarianism is both more subtle and powerful than than the more classic nostalgia for military rule when times get tough.



Brazilians fought hard to regain civil and human rights after two decades of a bloody military dictatorship. Now, 30 years later, paralysed by crime and violence, they’re again flirting with authoritarianism and intolerance.

In this corrosive process, organised crime has doubled down, corruption has multiplied, and instability and danger have warped the nation’s politics. To save its democracy, Brazil urgently needs to find a new solution for public safety. Otherwise, fear, crime and homicide will win.

The ConversationThis article was co-authored by Samira Bueno, PhD candidate at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation and executive director of the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety.

Renato Sérgio de Lima, Professor and researcher, Centre for Applied Legal Research , Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration (EBAPE/FGV)

This article was originally published on The Conversation.

Dispute over war ship in the South China Sea is a return to 'business as usual' for US and China


The South China Sea is a volatile place – or rather, its politics are.

China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have been fighting over this azure stretch of the Pacific for more than a century. But tensions increased markedly in recent years as China, claiming the South China Sea as its own, has built on and militarised some 250 islands off the coasts of Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan.

Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, along with an arbitration tribunal, are now challenging the legitimacy of China’s presence there.

Meanwhile, the United States continues to insist that the sea remain under international control. Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping were supposed to discuss the situation during their first meeting at Mar-a-Lago on April 5 2017. But the launch of 59 Tomahawks in Syria and growing tensions on the Korean peninsula completely overshadowed the maritime issue.

Two months after that meeting, the US triggered a classic confrontational cycle in the South China Sea. On May 24, the guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey passed through the contested waters and sailed close to Mischief Reef, in the Spratly archipelago.

The island, controlled by China, has become a symbol of the country’s assertiveness since it was occupied in 1995.

The operation was the first military maritime exercise in eight months and the first of Trump’s presidency. Under the Obama administration, starting in 2015, American patrols in the South China Sea were regular practice.





The Chinese Nine-Dash Line and the scramble for the South China Sea.
www.southchinsea.org


Freedom of navigation


The South China Sea Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPS) is a US military program, open to regional allies (such as Australia, Japan and the Philippines), in which the US leads maritime exercises in the area. FONOPS is aimed at reiterating the inalienable principle of freedom of navigation in international waters laid out in the United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

China disputes this application of the UN declaration and perceives FONOPS as essentially a unilateral American endeavour. The Department of State asserts that the US can and will exercise its freedom of navigation on worldwide, without interference by any other country.

War ships, it has affirmed, should enjoy the same freedom as any other vessel, meaning free access to both exclusive economic zones (EEZ) and territorial seas without permission from the relevant coastal state.

China, which has also been in bilateral talks on the South China Sea with the Phillipines since early this year, has a different interpretation. For Beijing, military vessels cannot enter a coastal state’s territorial seas without official permission.

It also claims that military ships in EEZ territorial waters are unlawful and suspicious, and only non-military vessels enjoy the right to passage.

The clash of unilaterality is clear, and both countries are firm in their stances. For the US, ensuring the freedom of navigation throughout Asia-Pacific region is a national prerogative and a matter of vital importance. As such, China – specifically, its military activities on some of the disputed South China Sea islands – is clearly its main obstacle.

A confrontation appears unavoidable, but, for now, interactions have cleverly been kept on a safe track, as no US allies have joined in the FONOPS exercises.


FONOPS is often misinterpreted as a challenge to China’s claims in the South China Sea. In fact, the freedom of navigation operations are not explicitly aimed at questioning Chinese sovereignty in the South China Sea.

Why it’s important for Trump’s administration


Still, the US has a clear interest in preserving its role as a regional hegemon, and FONOPS could be seen as a provocation of Beijing and its divergent maritime stance.

During his first months in office, President Trump was accused of neglecting the South China Sea dispute and undervaluing the maritime routes encompassed in the Chinese Nine-Dash line. As the New York Times has reported, the Pentagon has on two occasions turned down requests by the US Pacific Command to conduct operations in the disputed waters, in February and April.

This has worried some US allies in the region, and may have encouraged others to start developing a more independent foreign policy.

Trump’s cabinet has given every sign that it will continue the South China Sea policy developed under the Obama administration. On February 4 2017, Secretary of State James Mattis reiterated the importance of the South China Sea on the American agenda. Several months later, Admiral Harry Harris assured that the FONOPS in the South China Sea were planned as usual.

Timing is key in the waltz between Washington and Beijing. The US needs China’s support in facing a growing number of global challenges, from terrorism to North Korea. And with Trump already pushing China on trade, evidently his weapon of choice for addressing the nations’ multifaceted bilateral relationship, the administration may have seen a strategic reason for waiting to pressure Beijing on the South China Sea.

By relaunching operations in the region in May, the US reassured its Asian allies about its continued presence there. China was able to underline its different approach and criticise the US for jeopardising regional peace, thus bringing this FONOPS cycle to a close.

Beijing is well aware that such operations will continue, of course, just as Washington knows how China will respond. Ultimately, FONOPS is a geopolitical balancing act: it does not pose a direct threat to the status quo, which is favourable to China. But it asserts the US’ hegemonic role in the Asia Pacific.

The ConversationThough competition between the two world powers will continue, it seems unlikely to escalate in the near future. Reciprocal accusation of undermining regional stability are, in the end, business as usual.

Alessandro Uras, Teaching Fellow in Southeast Asian Studies, University of Cagliari

This article was originally published on The Conversation.

A sex worker's view on South Africa's latest plans to beat HIV




File 20170613 485 13iqajb

Activists supporting the decriminalisation of sex work at the 21st International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa.
International AIDS Society/Abhi Indrarajan



South Africa recently launched a five-year plan to improve the country’s response to HIV, TB and sexually transmitted infections. The plan was deemed necessary because of the persistently high rates of infections – the country has the highest TB and HIV rates in the world.

Sex workers are critical to the plan because HIV prevalence among them is extremely high. Research shows that more than half the female sex workers in South Africa’s three largest cities are HIV positive – but less than one-third are on antiretroviral treatment.

Crucial to the plan’s success is the ability of the country to meet two particular goals: implementing the 90:90:90 strategy for HIV (that 90% of people living with HIV know their status, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection receive sustained antiretroviral therapy and 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy are virally suppressed).

The second is that treatment, and other support, is given to vulnerable groups, such as sex workers.

But will the plan work? Some believe not.

One source of criticism has come from sex workers themselves.

Their case is set out in an open letter to the South African National Aids Council (SANAC) written by Zenande Dlamini, a sex worker and activist. Zenande and I are part of a writing collaboration and an arts-based project called Know My Story.

Zenande argues that the plan’s good intentions will be undermined by the fact that sex work remains a criminal offence in South Africa. This means that sex workers remain vulnerable. They don’t have the right to protect themselves – for example from police violence and intimidation – or get the health care they need because they’re stigmatised by health workers.

Her letter comes just months after the South African Law Reform Commission launched a long-awaited report on adult prostitution. The report, delivered 20 years after it was first mooted, failed to address the issue of decriminalising sex work.

Below is Zenande’s letter.



Dear SANAC,

My name is Zenande. I am a sex worker. I am from the Eastern Cape. I am many things other than a sex worker: sex work does not define me. But in this context it is important that I classify myself as part of this vulnerable population.

A lot of lip service has been paid to sex workers in the country’s attempt to reduce the number of HIV, TB and sexually transmitted infections. Big, powerful meetings have been conducted to try and find solutions to our issues, especially in the field of health rights. I am grateful for that. And I see how well-structured the South African National Strategic Plan on HIV, TB and STIs is for the next five years.

Realistically though, I’m worried.

My first problem is that the goal of 90:90:90 is just not possible.

Your policy promises that vulnerable populations will get counselling from peers as well as support to stick to treatment regimes and information sharing. This, the plan says, will happen across the country.

But there’s no sign of it happening, nor do I think it can happen, especially in my birth province where poverty is rife.

Who is expected to make the 90-90-90 strategy work? Firstly, there are only two or three organisations that dedicate their energy to key populations. This is the case even in heavily populated provinces like Gauteng and the Western Cape.

Secondly, there are only a small number of peer educators across the whole country. They are expected to reach out to marginalised groups in rural areas.

On top of this, there are only a limited number of NGOs dealing with vulnerable people in provinces like the Eastern Cape. That’s where I work as a peer educator. My experiences have led me to voice my frustrations in this letter.

If the government really wants to improve testing and treating TB, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections it has to do more than just address health issues. It must empower organisations working with sex workers to address problems around gender based violence and human rights violations.

Change will only happen when peer-led organisations are supported more.

Nothing will change


Your policy identifies drug use as one of the critical drivers of HIV, TB and sexually transmitted infections.

But there are no drug rehab centres that can work with my population to deal with drug abuse in the industry.

In addition to drug rehabs, sex workers need help to get out of the industry, if that’s what they want. At the moment they’re trapped. There are no programmes to help them exit the industry, for up-skilling, for bursaries.

Until this changes, nothing will change.

If I had the means, I’d give sex workers skills so that they had a plan B.

Still a crime


And then there’s the issue of decriminalisation.

I often hear the word criminal when it comes to sex work. Sex work is work. But until it is decriminalised, sex workers will remain victims of anyone who wants to boost their egos by beating us, raping us, abusing us and killing us.

And it’s not just clients we have to fear. We have condoms continuously confiscated by members of the South African Police Service – condoms that the health sector delivers to us.

Sex work needs to be decriminalised.

My own experience tells a story. I have tried to find other means of employment as I didn’t want to be on the wrong side of the law. I had dreams of being a nurse. I passed my matric and I applied for bursaries six times, without success. I had to drop out of varsity. I had to support two siblings and my own daughter. I had to protect my loved ones.

The ConversationI would like to know: what crime have I committed? By rendering a consensual service to a client who needs it, I am a criminal. By ensuring that my siblings and my single mum have food on the table, I am a criminal.

Susann Huschke, Postdoctoral Researcher in Anthropology, University of the Witwatersrand

This article was originally published on The Conversation.

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Mopping up at Cape Town station

More Metrorail delays on Tuesday morning

By Natalie Pertsovsky
13 June 2017
Photo of burnt out train
Burnt out carriages at a platform at Cape Town train station. Photo: Natalie Pertsovsky
Cape Town central train station was still in disarray on Tuesday morning. Cleaners were busy clearing up the debris from Monday night’s protests. Firefighters were spraying water around burnt out train carriages. Station employees tried to clean up broken glass and garbage. Officials had roped off rubble-strewn areas, including looted shops. Crowds of commuters and onlookers watched.

Protests erupted on Monday after widespread train delays that started in the mid-afternoon left hundreds of commuters stranded in the city into Monday evening.
A lotted shop in Cape Town train station. Photo: Natalie Pertsovsky
There were again widespread train delays on Tuesday. At 8:45am, GroundUp found commuters who had been waiting since 7am for their trains.

In a statement, Metrorail confirmed that eight train cars had been destroyed and platforms 15 and 16 at Cape Town station will be closed until further notice.
Trains were again delayed on Tuesday morning at Cape Town train station. Photo: Natalie Pertsovsky

Published originally on GroundUp .

Cable theft blamed for Metrorail failure

Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Transport appeals to commuters not to burn trains

By Natalie Pertsovsky and Lilly Wimberly
13 June 2017
Photo of burnt out coach
One of the burntMetrorail coaches at Cape Town station. Photo: Natalie Pertsovsky
On Tuesday, the Portfolio Committee on Transport visited the Cape Town train station following the events of Monday night in which commuters, angry over extended train delays, set two trains alight.
“The Portfolio Committee is shocked and taken aback by the incident of last night,” said Leonard Ramatlakane, the acting chairperson of the committee.

He claimed that the power failures were a result of cable theft. “We can see clearly that there is a criminal effort that has crept into this,” said Ramatlakane.

After a closed meeting between committee members and PRASA (Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, the owner of Metrorail) officials, which excluded the media, the portfolio committee inspected the damage.

Vodacom store manager Sagid Muhammad, whose shop was looted during the protest, said when he heard about the destruction he returned to work to find his store ransacked. “Police were here, but they were standing and not doing anything,” he said.

Ramatlakane appealed to communities to help with policing what he called “this criminal element that masquerades as commuters.”

He also made an appeal to commuters: “Metrorail is the only source of transport to move thousands and thousands of people from home to work everyday. Burning it is not a solution. It only creates and aggravates the problems of poor people who use this train.”

He added that a police investigation is underway to review security footage and prosecute perpetrators.

Published originally on GroundUp .