As a person living in Sweden, this feels strange to me, as Scandinavia is considered to be THE safest region in the world, so why the high rates of death shootings? 

Reasons given to this development are weapon regulations that are easily manipulated, low penalties, social injustices, and an undermanned police force. 

Many illegal weapons are smuggled across the borders. At the country´s largest border crossing only 70 of 10 000 vehicles are controlled, but at the same time, the border crossing isn’t allowed to control that many more because of the law of free mobility within the EU which makes it hard to detect the firearms. 

Sweden’s interior, Mikael Damberg, says that the government has taken harder action to stop the violence connected to organized crime, but also that those actions should have been made earlier as it will take time to see a long-lasting change. It, for example, takes years to educate a police officer, and for a new regulation to get passed it first needs to go through the many different levels of government. 

Because of statistics that show an overrepresentation of second-generation immigrants from outside of Europe that are involved in these types of crimes, the politics in Sweden has made a drastic turn during the last years, to higher support for the right-wing parties – a trend seen in many European countries. This is extra relevant as Sweden is going to election next year. 

Does this all mean that a strong democracy, close relationships to other countries, and freedom also can be considered a weakness for a nation? I don´t know, but it´s interesting to think about.

By Annie Pettersson

(You can find the documentary on Agenda – Sön 29 aug 21:15 | SVT Play)

Even though abortion is technically legal in the United States, abortion still remains extremely difficult to access as an idividual. The process itself is very difficult to go through. First of all they are targeting clinics with regulations that make them tough to keep open. Therefore there are not a lot of clinics to be found. There are also a lot of additional hurdles, once patients make it to their provider. Additionally, there are also many restrictions on the types of procedures to be found.  Lastly there are many financial constraints, since not everyone is able to afford the amount you have to pay. 

The ideas and information in this article are somehow connected to what I already know and believe about abortion. Like for instance, I knew that abortion was legal in the United States but wasn’t aware that they were trying to make the process very difficult, to insure the fact that abortion doesn’t acually really happen. Before reading this article, I believed that a woman should have control over her own body and thus have the power to control if she wants her own child to live in these circumstances or not. Based on what I found on the internet about 59 percent of Americans believe like I do. The political concept abortion is related to are human rights, justice, legimaticy, liberty, equality, develepment, inequality and lastly conflict. 

A quote that I was really fond of when reading this article was "You're told that you can't actually act on your decision until you jump through all the hoops that the state where you live has put out in front of you.” I really like this citation because I believe it correctly summarizes this article. The idea that numerous clinics were being shut down against abortion shocked me and therefore nearly ⅕ of the popultion have to travel at least 50 miles to go to the nearest clinic for abortion. In addition to that about half of the states in the United States have in effect waiting periods which makes abortion a demanding procedures. The hurdles are not only the cost and the time. In five different states patients are told falsely that abortion causes a higher risk of breast cancer. This all made me think in a new direction, namely that the government often implies a right but at the end of the day they will do their best in order for you not to make use of this right. Another perfect example for this, is the Corona vaccine. For instance in my home country, Belgium we are not obliged to take the vaccine but later on we do not have any freedom without it. People who are against vaccines do not have the chance to go to restaurants,etc,.. My Belgian government made it seem as if we had a choice, but in fact if you do not get the vaccine you cannot have your freedom. All of this made me question many different things. We are told we have the choice but in reality they make the process very inconvenient so in the end we don’t really actually have a choice. 

By Delphine de Bruyn 
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/09/politics/abortion-restrictions-roe-v-wade-access-supreme-court/index.html

Both this article and the research that I have been doing on this topic have made me question how I am supposed to trust the police forces when they protect the attackers of the most vulnerable groups. It also makes me question the actions of my government, which I considered an ally of the LGBTQI+, as they were the ones that initially allowed the protest and that have taken almost no legal actions against this movement.
I still have some doubts about this subject, as I still can not understand how some people can reach this point of hate towards people that have zero potential impact in their lives. Also I wonder how some people can be so influentiable using religious or economic claims with zero guarantees and how they live questioning that little their point of view.
(Articles- Neo-Nazi march against LGBTQ+ community in Madrid raises alarm over growing homophobia -Source: El País
Covid-19 lockdowns fuel anti-LGBT violence in French families -Source: France 24)

By Marina Beltran

The first article I read is titled “Sudan on the brink amid scramble for democracy”. Sudan is on its way to democracy, hopefully. Sudan has been going through a democratic transition since 2019, after the overthrow of former President Omar al-Bashir who was overthrown by both the military and the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) which represented protestors. The two actors came to a power sharing agreement that would guide them and the country through Sudan’s democratic transition. They are set to rule the country for another year, with the aim of holding elections and transitioning to civilian rule. However, the plans for a smooth transition have not been 100 percent successful. On Saturday the 16^th of October, protests broke out in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital with some calling for the military to assume responsibility for the transition and some who are unhappy with the original FFC supposedly excluding other groups from being part of the transition process. More demonstrations are planned for this week this time for those opposed to the army. (Abdelhadi, 2021)

If this story tells us anything, it’s that democracy is complex, especially when people are this divided. For long, the people of Sudan were united, even with the military, against Bashir. However, since he was overthrown, that unity has diminished possibly because there were no concrete plans of what would happen after former president Bashir’s regime was done. I find it interesting that a large enough group of Sudanese people are in favor of the military ruling the country, especially because in my last entry, I referred to the military/army/police as enemies of democracy and only serve to deter the people from seeking democracy. It would be interesting, if that was the fate of Sudan, a military rule, not forced per se, but voted on by the public. It combines to ideas that are contradictory to me, but may not necessarily be, to others.

The second article I read was about the recent election in Cape Verde. Opposition candidate Jose Maria Neves won Cape Verde’s presidential election. This is the country’s fourth peaceful transition of power between MpD(former ruling party) and African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), establishing Cape Verde as one of Africa’s most stable democracies. “The will of the people was heard and the will of the people was granted,”, the incumbent said. Jose Maria has said he wants to be a president who “who unites, protects and cares”. ("Opposition candidate Neves wins Cape Verde election", 2021)

This story is a breath of fresh air after the other one. It is inspiring to see how peaceful democracy can be, once it is achieved. With incumbents not insulting the other, both showing each other a mutual respect. It makes me question how some countries have reached very different states of democracy. Once the global consensus was somehow reached of democracy being the norm, why has it taken some countries so long to achieve this? I definitely have some of those answers the most obvious one being that in every country, perspectives are very different and ever-changing, so uniting millions of people, will always be a challenge. However, it will be interesting to explore why there is such a great disparity between the states of democracy around the world.

Looking at both articles, I think the people of Sudan are frustrated, because they haven’t had their voices be heard and haven’t had their perspectives have importance for decades, and when it seemed that that would come to an end, after former president Bashir was overthrown, that wasn’t the case, because democracy is so complex, and takes a lot of time. This greatly contrasts the situation in Cape Verde, where after decades of elections, there is still peace, even with the results being so tight, with Jose Maria Neves winning by only 51.7% of the vote. ("Opposition candidate Neves wins Cape Verde election", 2021).  I think that just emphasizes and reinforces the importance of democracy to me, to hear out the different perspectives in a country. It’s unfortunate to watch on one hand, because for all my life, this is the Sudan I’ve known and it’s terrifying to think about Sudan possibly losing all the progress it has made but who knows, maybe Sudan can take a leaf from Cape Verde’s history books, and save its democracy.

I am beginning to achieve a really loaded understanding of the large complex political system/concept that is democracy and its importance. Additionally, reading these two articles, plus looking at the major differences between the two countries, I am really curious about the origins of democracy in the modern world and what factors makes it easier/harder for countries to be classified as democracies. 

Bibliography

Abdelhadi, M. (2021). Sudan on the brink amid scramble for democracy. Retrieved 20 October 2021, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-58970193 

Opposition candidate Neves wins Cape Verde election. (2021). Retrieved 20 October 2021, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/18/opposition-candidate-neves-wins-cape-verde-election 

By Brandon Kanyerezi

In many African countries, when they were colonized in the 18th and 19th centuries, their colonizers implemented homophobic laws. Now, the majority of the countries that colonized African countries have laws that defend Queer rights and marriage. However, in Africa, the colonizer’s laws remain even though the colonizers did not. 

Answering driving question:
 Modern day Anti-LGBTQ+ Kenyans argue that homophobia is part of their culture and that Westerners are imposing more harmful ideas to their society. 

 However, in the article listed below, a grandmother recalls the juxtaposition of treatment towards LGBTQ+ people before colonization and after. She recalls that before colonization, “[Queer] people were seen as spiritual people, with a special gift.” This directly refutes the claims made by homophobic Kenyans. Queer people used to be paraded and praised in Pre-colonization Kenya. However, after Britain’s colonization, homophobia was introduced to the country. It has been enough generations since Britain left Kenya that the British homophobia that was implemented is now viewed as Kenyan culture. This is an unfortunate and sad effect that not only makes life harder for LGBTQ+ people, it also negatively affects all Kenyans. Due to homophobia in Kenya in legislation and culture, Kenya is viewed as discriminatory and oppressive even though it is the fault of Britain.

 In conclusion, it is clear that without British colonialism Kenya would’ve remained accepting of queer people. The British Empire introduced the law of banning homesexual act and, more significantly, introduced the notion that being Queer is wrong. This homophobia stayed with Kenya until Kenya made its own constitution when it chose to keep laws against gay people. Therefore, colonialism had a significant effect on the legislation in Kenya. 

Personal insight:
It’s very sad to see what gay people have to suffer through just to love. It’s even sadder to know that there are people who knew Kenya as a place of love and acceptance and young gays will never know their country in that perspective. After researching, it is clear to me that it’s not really the Kenyan people’s fault that the country is homophobic now.

Extension:
First, how were activists in Britain able to make their country LGBTQ+ friendly but those colonized by Britain struggle in their countries? In addition, how do you educate someone that something they have believed in their whole life is incorrect? Lastly, is it ethical to tell somone their culture is incorrect if it is harmful? 

By Gil Weiss

Sources (APA 7):

☆ Kushner, J. (2019, May 24). The Atlantic. The Atlantic; theatlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/05/kenya-supreme-court-lgbtq/590014/ 

‌Ingber, S., & NPR. (2019, May 24). Kenya’s Judges Uphold Laws That Criminalize Gay Sex. NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/2019/05/24/726541735/kenyas-judges-uphold-laws-that-criminalize-gay-sex 

The Slutwalk movement started in 2011 in Toronto after an important police officer said Infront of many university students in one of the most important universities in Toronto “women should avoid dressing like sluts” this saying brought up many responses that did not support this declaration. After these events a group of women decided to go out to the streets of Toronto showing that no clothes or personal appearance are an invitation for rape or any other sexual attack, at first the clothing was supposed to be just “regular” to show that the meaning of them has no connection to rape culture or the idea of a “slut” like it is portrait in the society. The way they dressed as a movement brought up more knowledge to this subject and more attention to this walk all over the world. The Slutwalk in Israel started a few years later and is now occurring mainly in three cities, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem. 

The main one is In Tel Aviv and is now an annually event that over the years brings more and more people. In July of 2017 the responsibility of the march was moved to the feminist organization which is an NGO named Kolan ( all in English but specifically referring to women in Hebrew) the organization does many educational activities in Israel and holds a lot of influence on the government mainly as a result of rape cases or women’s murder by a family members, the organization holds many protests through the year and is now the main organizer of the yearly march . 

A quote from an article given by the COE oof Kolan organization “[…] told Ynet that our main message is that nothing is an invitation to rape. Even if I'm a slut, no matter who I am or what I am, nothing justifies being hurt. It cannot be that the system will continue to abandon women and we are here to shout on behalf of all the women who could not shout in real time and also for ourselves about the cases where we could not shout. We are here to remind the Israeli public that we deserve protection. "

This march is very important because it has power, it is power that comes from the people, the civilians and the organizations that have a place and a stage to say, or to shout their needs, to break the system and the way it works. 
by Mika Talor
sources:
https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/rkz3ro8st
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SlutWalk
SLUTWALK EGI.pptx

 

Due to that, the government created a law that would guarantee free delivery of sanitary pads to low-income students enrolled in public schools, homeless women in situations of extreme social vulnerability, and women in prison. The assistance would have been entrusted to the Ministry of Health, for a total cost of approximately 53 million dollars, which would be obtained from the resources allocated by the Union to the Unified Health System (SUS) and, in the case of inmates, by the National Penitentiary Fund.

SUS is the largest government-run and publicly administered healthcare system in the world, it is a free and universal constitutional right to all. SUS covers every and all types of medicines, treatments, and essential goods, which pads are not classified as. So even for people who carry additional supplemental private coverage, there may be times when it’s more convenient to visit a public hospital. 

The bill was approved by congress when Jair Bolsonaro, the current Brazilian president vetoed article 1, which provides for the free distribution of sanitary pads, and article 3, which establishes the list of the beneficiaries. In his decree, the excuse was the excessive costs of the initiative, declaring that the government does not have the economic resources necessary to finance it. On the other hand, in the year 2020, Bolsonaro has been named the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Person of the Year, for his role in promoting organized crime and corruption. 

Since the event, online protests have been going on and state governments are mobilizing to overturn the veto and provide dignity to these women. Now the question that I have been asking myself is, is allowing a woman to live their lives with hygienic and dignity too powerful against men? Is this a tool to make women vulnerable and even more marginalized?

I wonder if men bleed every month how the laws and their rights would be.

By Luara Alves Kamada
https://www.ruetir.com/2021/10/07/brazil-bolsonaro-blocks-the-distribution-of-free-sanitary-pads-to-women-in-difficulty/ 

https://www.internationalinsurance.com/health/systems/brazil.php 

There is an economic crisis, which caused many citizens to be poor. The unemployment rate stood at 25%, and ⅓ of the population was living below the poverty line. One example that caused the economic crisis can be the plan that the government had in 2019, which was to tax Whatsapp calls, as well as it suggested new taxes on tobacco, and petrol which caused anger, and frustration within society, and overall lead to anti-government protests. The protests overall occurred because there was frustration from the protesters about the government not having the ability to give basic needs, such as safe drinking water, electricity, an appropriate healthcare system, technology, etc. There has been a lot of violence between the protesters, and police officers, which eventually forced Saad Hariri (The former Prime Minister) to resign. The government in Lebanon has resigned, however, the citizens desire more, especially an individualistic, reliable, and dependable government that provides basic human needs. 

This issue raised a question for me which was: Why is Lebanon struggling to do something about the situation? I have discovered that the reason they are struggling is that there is political sectarianism, which is a conflict between groups in politics. The Lebanese government recognizes 18 different religious communities which are; 4 Muslim, 12 Christian, the Druze sect, and Judaism. The 3 main groups are; the Maronite Christian, the Shia Muslim, and the Sunni Muslim. There is a massive religious diversity that makes the nation an easy target for intruding by external powers, such as the Hezbollah movement, which is a major political key power in their political system, and influenced the outgoing leaving government led by Hariri. There are multiple parties, and groups, which causes chaos within the government. Each political party is simply attempting to maintain, and control power, by protecting their own group’s interests, and beliefs which they represent. 

This connects with the key concepts of power and human rights because the government holds power over the citizens and is not providing basic human rights such as free access to clean water, or an appropriate healthcare system. This can also link to capitalism because the government is doing whatever they desire in accord with their interest. 

I personally find it confusing, and triggering that the government is not acting, or simply “leaving” when their society needs it because when there is a conflict or an issue, you don’t just ‘leave’. You have to face the issue, deal with it, and come up with a conclusion, or a solution. The conflict, disagreement, and selfishness to a certain extent cause the citizens to feel miserable and brutalized. After all, they have no representation or some factor they can depend on because their government simply gave up. I am extremely curious about what will happen in the future with the situation, how the different parties will be able to overcome the conflicts they are facing, how the country will rise from the economical crisis, and who will lead the new government if there will even be one.

Sources: "Lebanon: Why The Country Is In Crisis". BBC News, 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53390108.

Leonhardt, David, and Sanam Yar. "Lebanon’S Crisis". Nytimes.Com, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/14/briefing/lebanon-financial-crisis-lira.html.

By: Gali Shamir

As well as being used by companies, it is becoming increasingly used by governments around the world to track possible dissidents.

China, in particular, plays a very important role in mass surveillance.

By capturing biometric data through the many cameras installed in Chinese cities, the government monitors its citizens, distinguishing for example the colour of their skin and thus their ethnicity ('Uighur' included - the Muslim minority in North-west China). The most terrifying part of all this is the fact that the Chinese government is specialising in a new method of surveillance: behavioural engineering (i.e. the combination of technology and psychology to analyse an individual's behaviour).

Through this method, the government is able to track people's emotions from their facial expressions.  The reason behind this is to predict their behaviour. For example, if you are walking down the street and a camera labels your facial expression as angry, the police station to which this biometric data is transmitted may think that you will engage in behaviour classified as dangerous to the community and therefore classify you in a file as a 'dangerous person' to be watched. However, we have to consider the concept of 'dangerous' to a government.  Maybe even just organising a protest.

Personally, I didn't know that mass surveillance was on this scale in China.

If ensuring privacy seems the priority of a large number of governments, this does not necessarily seem to be the case in practice. I think what is happening in China - but not only - is very dangerous because it leads to a serious violation of privacy, which is a human right, thus giving a lot of power to the government who is now in possession of very sensitive data. Governments should be responsible for the security of their citizens and should not aim to collect as much data as possible to use for their own purposes. In the case of China, defending the right to privacy means defending a plurality of ideas and opinions that differ from the ruling party.

While many people do not pay attention to the right to privacy thinking that it does not affect them directly, many governments are using the pandemic as a means by which to adopt an increasing number of mass surveillance. What comes to my mind is the necessity to raise more awareness on the right to privacy, which is perhaps too often undervalued. Looking at the long term, if in the future there is no increase in limiting the collection of biometric data by authorities, I wonder if this will lead us to live in regimes like the one described in Orwell's 1984, where the government “watches” you, all the time. Or maybe worse: a government that, by crossing data from different sources, can predict and anticipate any possibility of uprising from the population.

Sources: 

By Camilla Bertone

In November 2020, The President of the Republic of Uganda, H.E Yoweri Museveni lifted many lockdown restrictions to open up the country and rejuvenate the economy as it was in a dire state. On 6^th June 2021, another lockdown was imposed in Uganda by the government restricting movement, shutting down schools and businesses. 

On 28^th June 2021, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a $1 billion financial package for Uganda. It was a three-year financial package intended to rejuvenate the Ugandan economy.

 In mid-July 2021, the first instalment of $50 million was received by the Ugandan government. The government handed $30 million of the $50 million received from the IMF to the parliament to enable the members of Parliament to buy new cars. Each of the 529 lawmakers received $56,500 to buy new vehicles at a time when Covid-19 cases were surging. (Aljazeera Media Network, 2021) 

The lockdown imposed on 18^th June 2021 is still undergoing and has left many people unemployed and helpless for months. Schools have been closed for 77 weeks and counting making this the longest school closure in the world. Over 500,000 people have become unemployed as a result of the lockdown and over 1.5 million are unable to feed themselves because they have no source of income (Aljazeera Media Network, 2021). The purpose of the funds granted by the IMF was to help these vulnerable people get back on their feet at such a trying time however the government decided to buy luxuries items for themselves leaving their citizens helpless showing the extent of corruption in the Pearl of Africa.   

Aljazeera Media Network. (2021, July 24). Outrage after Uganda MPs get $30m to buy cars amid COVID crisis | News | Al Jazeera. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/24/uganda-mps-get-nearly-30m-to-buy-cars-outrage-follows

BBC News. (2021, May 12). Yoweri Museveni swearing-in 2021: Uganda president begin im sixth term for Kampala - BBC News Pidgin. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com: https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/tori-57056897

By Joshua Otika