As sports fans worldwide hone in on the World Cup, footage from outside the arenas focus attention on social strife and the repression of free speech. Meanwhile, far from the spotlight, local media collectives in rural Kenya reports on a community under siege. And in Sri Lanka, a wave of sectarian violence is ignored by mass media, and brought to light on Twitter.
Here are highlights from recently featured videos on the channel:
BRAZIL
The world’s favorite sport did not put an end to the protests that have swept across Brazil expressing anger over wages, forced evictions, misuse of public funds, and other issues. On the first day of the World Cup,the activist media collective, Midia Ninja, reported that one of their reporters was arrested and beaten by officers until she lost consciousness. Karinny Magellan was live streaming footage of clashes between protesters and police in Belo Horizante when she was approached by an officer who tried to stop her from filming.
Live streamed footage captures the moment police corner Magellan on the side of a street and attempt to take her camera. On the same day, video footage caught the arrest of two filmers from the activist group, Colectivo Maraichi, as they attempted to film protests in Copabanana. Keep an eye on our Brazil playlist for new videos.
KENYA
Dozens of residents of the coastal town of Mpeketoni, Kenya, were gathered watching the World Cup when militants attacked the town, killing at least 48 people. “They were armed like the army,” a witness told InformAction. While many Kenyans fear that their country is under attack from militants, they have also expressed concern that the government’s crackdown on Muslims and foreigners has only scapegoated a community, without addressing serious threats of terrorism.
SRI LANKA
On Monday, Muslims in the southwest town of Aluthgama came under attack in the worst religious violence Sri Lankans have experienced in decades. Several people were reported killed, dozens injured, shops looted, and homes and mosques burned in Aluthgama and neighboring cities, following a rally by a hardline Buddhist group, Bodu Bala Sena. This article describes the role of independent reporters and social media to report on the violence, while state media ignored the story.
This week we’re keeping our eyes on:
ISRAEL/PALESTINE
A massive search for three missing teenagers has elevated tensions between the Israeli Defence Force and Palestinians. A 20-year-old Palestinian man was reportedly shot dead during clashes in a refugee camp north of Ramallah where some of the thousands of IDF troops on the manhunt fanned out. Checkpoints have limited movement of residents of Hebron, and Israeli forces have arrested more than 150 Palestinians during their sweeps.
The most recent citizen videos of human rights issues can always be found on our Citizen Watch video playlist.
Image: a video still from YouTube user Informaction including a testimony from a survivor of the community siege in Kenya.