#good luck over there

[beardedmrbean]

Bangladesh’s new leader is clear: this was not his revolution, and this was not his dream.

But Muhammad Yunus knew the second he took the call from the student on the other end of the phone last week that he would do whatever it took to see it through.

And the students had decided that what they needed was for Prof Yunus - an 84-year-old Nobel laureate - to step into the power vacuum left by the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and lead the new interim government. He accepted immediately.

“I'm doing this because this is what the youth of the country wanted, and I wanted to help them to do it,” he explains during a private briefing for select journalists at his office in the Jamuna State House.

“It's not my dream, it’s their dream. So I'm kind of helping them to make it come true.”

Prof Yunus was sworn in on Thursday after months of student-led protests culminated in the fall of the government, and is still trying to gauge the scale of the job in front of him.

Most pressing, he says, is the security situation. In the wake of the violence which left more than 400 dead, the South Asian country’s police had all but disappeared - the country’s police union had announced a strike, and traffic was being guided by the students, while hundreds of police stations had been gutted by fires.

“Law and order is the first one so that people can sit down or get to work,” Prof Yunus says.

Monday saw the first glimmers of progress as officers returned to the streets. It is a first step, but security is far from the only problem.

The government entirely “disappeared” after Sheikh Hasina fled the country, Prof Yunus says.

What was left behind after 15 years of increasingly authoritarian rule is “a mess, complete mess”.

“Even the government, what they did, whatever they did, just simply doesn't make sense to me… They didn't have any idea what administration is all about.”

And yet in the face of the chaos is “lots of hope”, Prof Yunus emphasises.

“We are here: a fresh new face for them, for the country... Because finally, this moment, the monster is gone. So this is excitement.”

Reform is key, according to Prof Yunus. It was a simple demand for reform of a quota system which reserved some public sector jobs for the relatives of war heroes, who fought for the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971, that sparked the protest movement in the first place.

But it was the brutal and deadly crackdown by security services which followed that saw it grow into demands for Sheikh Hasina to stand aside.

Reform is desperately needed, says Prof Yunus, pointing to freedom of speech - heavily restricted under Sheikh Hasina’s government, the prisons filled with people who sought to speak out against her.

He himself alleges he was a victim of the crackdown on freedom of speech. An outspoken critic of Sheikh Hasina’s government, Prof Yunus - lauded for his pioneering use of micro-loans but regarded as a public enemy by the former prime minister - was sentenced to six months in jail in what he has called a politically motivated case.

But there are other, more radical, ideas in the pipeline.

Each ministry will have a student seat in it, an acknowledgement of the role they played in bringing the previous administration to an end.

Already, Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud, students who led the anti-government protests, sit in his cabinet.

And then there is reform of the judiciary. Already, the students have put pressure on the chief justice to resign.

Prof Yunus argues the judiciary was failing to act independently - instead allegedly taking orders from “some superior authority”.

“In the technical terms, he was the chief justice,” he says. “But actually, he was just a hangman.”

There will, he acknowledges, be decisions made that not everyone agrees with, but he hopes it will be better than what has come before.

“Whatever experience I have in my work... So I'm not saying I can run a government. I'm saying that I have some experience of running some organisations. I'll bring that as much as I can. There will be people who like it, people who dislike it. But we have to go through with it.”

[trekkerac]

I'm having fun part 3

[eldritchdemonfox]

If this post gets 10k notes by March, I will start taking better care of my health (something I have no motivation to do)

[andstuffsketches]

finally watched Reign of the Supermen

[heartorbit]

happy halloween! 🎃🐈‍⬛👻🐇

[bigchumpus]

Can you tell I'm incredibly normal :D

[mvalentine]

[krazieka2]

Here's a big old Fire Emblem Search & Find I did for the FE3H Masquerade Zine! Find the Golden Deer, but see if you can't find the rest of the students as well! For the ultimate challenge, see if you can't name every character! (Disclaimer two characters are NPCs with no names)

[karalovesallthegirls]

Also have another “first words spoken to you are on your skin” soulmate AU idea where Kara is a journalist assigned to shadow the controversial CEO of L-Corp for the day. It’s a big deal for her to get this assignment, so of course she trips the second she’s near the other woman and tries awkwardly to redeem herself.

The CEO stares at her almost in shock, and then says nothing. At all. Ever, for the entire day.

Kara spends hours following Lena Luthor around trying to fill the silence, but no amount of questions get her to talk. Lena almost seems to be running away at some points - like she’s trying to lose her? - and the few times she’s managed to catch her actually talking to someone she goes silent the second she sees Kara.

She asks around if Miss Luthor is usually like this and everyone looks at her like she’s crazy. Apparently she’s the only one who gets the silent treatment. By the end of her first day shadowing she’s walking away with half a page of observations and not a single quote. Miss Grant is going to kill her.

But that’s okay. It’s fine, this isn’t over. She has four days of shadowing ahead of her and she’ll be damned if she doesn’t finish this with a quote from the woman herself. It’s only a matter of time.

[doctorsiren]

found a really cute picture in my Pinterest folder of a guy and a kid clinking glasses of milk and decided to draw it as Reigen and little Mob

[claraoswalds]

#mrs flood who are you: time lord edition

[beardedmrbean]

At the end of August, some 70 youth were detained in Nigeria’s southern Delta state, accused of organizing a same-sex wedding. Another 76 people were detained in October for organizing a similar event in the northeastern Gombe state. These mass detentions seem to send a clear message: LGBT people are less welcome than ever in Nigeria, the most populous state in Africa, at nearly 240 million inhabitants.

That is certainly how it seems to Francis Ndimele. Only a month after the mass arrest in August, which made headlines, he forced to emigrate from his home in Lagos to the United States. “My parents disowned me in 2020 after discovering I was gay. I had the support of an LGBTQI+ group that gave me shelter in Lagos. Despite this, my family kept sending police officers to chase me. They believe my sexual identity is an embarrassment to the family, especially since they are clergymen from an apostolic church. And the Nigerian police use the arrest of LGBT+ people for extortion, knowing that the law does not protect us,” the 24-year-old says, bitterly.

In 2014, the then-president of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, enacted legislation banning same-sex relationships, as well as any public display of same-sex affection or membership of LGBTQ+ groups. The law imposes a penalty of up to 14 years in jail for anyone who “enters into a same-sex marriage contract or civil union,” and sentences up to 10 years in jail anyone who “registers, operates, or participates in gay clubs, societies, and organizations” or who even supports said groups. Nigerian lawyers and human rights activists argue that the draconian law is a violation of basic universal freedoms, and that the police regularly use it to make arbitrary arrests, and even to torture arrestees.

Lagos-based lawyer Chizelu Emejulu defends LGBT people in different Nigerian states. He says, “It seems that [the anti-LGBT law] was only passed in order to harass and extort.” It is an instrument of the government “to suppress democracy,” he says. Emejulu points out that no one has been convicted in the African country since the homophobic law came into effect a decade ago, and says that all the individuals who were arrested during the most recent raid were released on bail, although the court has ordered them to appear every month since. No charges have yet been brought against them.

Nigerian police applied the law for the first time in 2019, when they processed 47 men for “public show of same-sex amorous relationship,” according to human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch, although that case was dismissed because the prosecution did not present any witnesses in court.

In January, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights joined critics of the law with its Universal Periodic Review, a periodic review that analyzes the state of human rights around the world every four and a half years. The U.N. recommended that the Nigerian government withdraw the anti-homosexuality law, the liberation of anyone who had been arrested based on their sexual orientation and the end of persecution of the LGBT community, according to Human Rights Watch, which warns that this kind of recommendation has “little to no impact” on these kinds of issues.

Parades of humiliation

Human rights activists have also raised the alarm over Nigeria’s latest group arrests being paired with a humiliating police tactic: pre-trial media parades of detainees. The Nigerian Supreme Court declared in 2022 that this practice violates the Constitution, but during last August’s arrest, the police operation was streamed live on social media, as has been the case with most homophobic arrests.

Lawyer Stephen Okiroro stresses that these practices go against Section 36 of the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantees the presumption of innocence. “Public parading of suspects by Nigerian security agents was common during the military era, when the repressive military government suspended several human rights laws. Now we have a democratic government, and one of its values is fundamental human rights,” he says.

Only 22 of the 54 African countries allow same-sex relationships. Although in Nigeria, the law establishes prison sentences, in 12 of the country’s 36 states where Sharia (Islamic law) is in force, the death penalty can be applied to members of the LGBT community or to those who go against traditional norms of behavior. In November, local media reported the arrest of eight young men for “immoral dress.” The accusation: dressing in garments considered to be women’s clothing. The punishment: three months in prison and 10 lashes. “Transvestism” is being targeted by the federal government, warn organizations such as Human Rights Watch. In April, a legislator introduced an amendment to the law against same-sex marriage that imposes penalties of six months’ imprisonment or fines of 500,000 naira ($513).

The privilege to flee

Those who can, escape this suffocating environment. “I had already planned to travel and had my visa, but I got help from human rights advocates to pay for my flight reservation to the United States, where I now consider myself safe,” says Ndimele, the young man persecuted by his relatives. “My parents are happy that I am no longer around and that their church members can no longer make fun of them.” Daniel Orji, who lived in the southwestern Nigerian state of Ogun, also left the country after being fired from his job. “A colleague saw me in a gay venue when I was on vacation, took pictures of me on the sly and sent them to the office. They fired me and asked me never to come back, under threat of reporting me. I got a job in the U.K. and moved about six months ago,” he says. “[In Nigeria] we face all kinds of discrimination from people at work and in all other social encounters. I feel very sorry for those who can’t travel like me. It’s really hellish.”

Ndimele and Orgi were lucky to be able to flee the country, but leaving isn’t an option for everyone. One of the people who don’t have that privilege is Kunle Adeagbo, who says he has been detained and extorted on various occasions. “I live in fear. The law doesn’t just allow the police to treat LGBT people in an inhumane way, it also subjects us to mob violence. I was once injured in the street on the way to a party. But it was hard for me to go and report it at the police station because of the stigmatization and discrimination committed by those who are supposed to protect the lives and property of citizens.” Adeagbo eventually worked up the courage to report his assailants, but the accusation backfired. “The police detained me, tortured me, kept me in custody and forced me to confess that I’m gay. They only released me after I paid them,” he says. “We are not asking for very much, we just want the violence to stop so that human rights defenders and organizations that provide services to LGBT people can freely support us.”

The spokesperson for the Nigerian police force, Muyiwa Adejobi, did not respond to calls or text messages sent by this publication. The Nigerian Minister of Justice did not respond to questions, either.

A law that violates the Constitution

Benjamin Abiboye, human rights lawyer, says that Article 40 of the Nigerian Constitution states that every citizen has the right to freely assemble and associate with others, and in particular, form or belong to political parties, unions or any other association to protect their interests. “So, why should the anti-LGBT law punish people for gathering peacefully? Why should the government look the other way when there is mob violence against them?” he asks. The law Nigeria passed in 2014 “is the most repressive law passed since the return of democracy to the country in 1999,” he says. Okiroro agrees: “Freedom of association is a fundamental human right in a functioning democracy, and it is essential that the government provide space for people to express different views and defend their common interests.”

In addition to violating the Nigerian Constitution, the homophobic law also violates international human rights agreements, like the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which guarantees the right to freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of assembly and the equality of all people. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Nigeria assented to with reservations in 1993, assures the equality of all people before the law and their right to not suffer from discrimination.

[post-it-notes7]

happy halloween folks!

[sualne]

have some trans swan lake barbies

[frumpkingoesfurrst]

[buttercupshands]

Fell asleep before I could post it here

Stressful week defeated with a result of me forgetting how to draw Siffrin before I sketched again

Too focused to keep a hold on it in a way

So there was this, which I prefer with a neutral-sad face instead

Like this but I thought it was a bit too... That

After that I've redrew an expression from that one scene. Just because Ost said "Here you go "Do You Remember? (Our Country)" time!"

Same thing is why Mal Du Pays are here