As the former South African president Nelson Mandela is mourned and praised around the world, one can’t help thinking: What would have happened if he had been young today (or what can happen to someone like him, who is young today)? Remember that Mandela was for many years, even until 2008, classified by some as a terrorist. If Mandela had been young today, perhaps he had, like many other suspected terrorists, been killed by a government without a fair trial.

Please see the petition by Writers Against Mass Surveillance.

Transparency International (TI) has recently published the Corruption Perceptions Index 2013. As they write, corruption continues to have a devastating impact on societies and individuals around the world. The work of TI is important, but throughout their activities they unfortunately seem to have closed their eyes on governments as a source of corruption. This year, when it has been widely reported how some governments have bribed foreign government officials, one could have expected TI and many others to notice this and take action.