“Jasmine Revolution”
Symbol of peace: Flowers placed on the barrel of a tank
in very much calmer protests than in recent days in Tunisia

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011
Mannoubia Bouazizi, the mother of Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi. "Mohammed suffered a lot. He worked hard. but when he set fire to himself, it wasn’t about his scales being confiscated. It was about his dignity." (Peter Hapak for TIME)

1 - TUNISIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


How eyepatches became a symbol of Egypt's revolution - Graffiti depicting a high ranking army officer with an eye patch Photograph: Nasser Nasser/ASSOCIATED PRESS

2 - EGYPT Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


''17 February Revolution"

3 - LIBYA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

5 - SYRIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

"25 January Youth Revolution"
Muslim and Christian shoulder-to-shoulder in Tahrir Square
"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) -
(Subjects: Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" (without a manager hierarchy) managed Businesses, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)
"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)
(Subjects:Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

"If an Arab and a Jew can look at one another and see the Akashic lineage and see the one family, there is hope. If they can see that their differences no longer require that they kill one another, then there is a beginning of a change in history. And that's what is happening now. All of humanity, no matter what the spiritual belief, has been guilty of falling into the historic trap of separating instead of unifying. Now it's starting to change. There's a shift happening."


“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.

They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."



African Union (AU)

African Union (AU)
African Heads of State pose for a group photo ahead of the start of the 28th African Union summit in Addis Ababa on January 30, 2017 (AFP Photo/ Zacharias ABUBEKER)

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela
Few words can describe Nelson Mandela, so we let him speak for himself. Happy birthday, Madiba.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

European technology company accused of enabling torture

Deutsche Welle, 24 Aug 2011  

NSN again faces charges its
technology is being misused
Bahraini security officials used systems from Nokia Siemens Networks to track dissidents, who were later tortured, a new report says. Human rights activists don't want repressive regimes to get surveillance technology.

Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) faces new allegations that technology it exported is being used by repressive governments to track human rights activists. Bloomberg reports that Bahraini officials used NSN monitoring systems to intercept text messages and gather information about mobile phone conversations.

Bahraini activist Abdul Ghani Al Khanjar told Bloomberg that security officials tortured him numerous times while he was in detention for some seven months. When questioning him, his captors were able to quote from his private conversations with alarming detail.

In a statement to Deutsche Welle, NSN said that it divested the monitoring center business in March 2009 and no longer provides the technology to any country.

The statement goes on to say that "such abuse, if it has occurred, is wrong and is contrary to [NSN's] Code of Conduct and accepted international norms. The company condemns such misuse. ... While Nokia Siemens Networks recognizes the risks of abuse and its responsibility to take steps to reduce the potential for abuse, it strongly believes that, on balance, individuals - including those who live under repressive regimes - are better off for having access to telecommunications."

Calls for government to step in

Companies often point out that they're not responsible for what people do with their products. But human rights activists don't accept this answer, and want regulators to step in to make sure corporations don't let technology get into the wrong hands.

Activists say Iranian officials used NSN
systems to monitor dissidents
"If the US or the EU are proudly focusing on internet freedom while security and other ICT products made in the West are used to repress the same citizens we are trying to protect, this is clearly neither credible nor effective," said Marietje Schaake, a European Member of Parliament from the Netherlands who closely follows human rights issues, via e-mail.

Schaake said that she wants to see more transparency from companies. She also sees a role for the European Union.

"The EU should take the lead in raising awareness of the double-edged sword technologies," Schaake said. "The EU could also implement an early warning mechanism in order to prevent the export of technologies to regimes that systematically abuse human rights."

A troubled history

The revelation about Bahrain is the latest in a series of human rights controversies to strike NSN. Last year, two Iranians, Isa Saharkhiz and Mehdi Saharkhiz, sued NSN in an American federal court. They alleged that the sale of surveillance technology enabled Iranian security forces to arrest and torture Isa Saharkhiz.

The case was subsequently dropped, but the Iranians' attorney Ali Herischi said at the time that he planned to revisit the suit later.

Nokia Siemens Networks is a joint venture founded in 2006 between the Finnish telecom giant Nokia and the German corporation Siemens.

Author: Mark Garrison
Editor: Stuart Tiffen

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