Seven years with hard labour

Index on Censorship and iceandfire present Seven Years With Hard Labour, a performance composed of five accounts from former and current political prisoners in Burma. Through their engaging, divergent and often humorous stories a damning picture of a ruthless military regime is painted. The world premiere takes place at Global Forum on Freedom of Expression, 3 June 8.30pm at Litteraturhuset, Wergenlandsveien, 29, 0167 Oslo. Scripted by Christine Bacon and Sara Masters (iceandfire) Commissioned and co-produced by Index on Censorship

Guardian Hay Festival: The Index on Censorship Lecture with Geoffrey Robertson QC

Index on Censorship is proud to host The Index Lecture at this years Guardian Hay Festival on Sunday 24 May. Index on Censorhip editor Jo Glanville will chair the event and human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC is set to discuss and explore the issue of free speech. The event will be held in the Oxfam tent at 8.30 pm. To book tickets and find out more about the festival please click here

Queer Up North Festival with Kenan Mailk

Writer and Index on Censorship trustee Kenan Malik joins feminist writer Julie Bindel and Index on Censorship news editor Padraig Reidy at Queer Up North Festival in Manchester on Saturday 16 May. The pair will be taking part in a panel debate chaired by Christoper Cook. The debate entitled: “You can’t say that! –– The culture of offence” takes place at Friends Meeting House, 12.30pm – 1.50pm.

For more details about the event and to book your ticket click here

Liberty 75th Anniversary Conference

This June marks the 75th anniversary of UK human rights organisation Liberty. Index chief executive John Kampfner and Index trustee Sir Ken Macdonald are set to speak at the event which celebrates 75 years of protecting civil liberties and human rights as well as debating the challenges to rights and freedoms in modern Britain. The panelists include some of the UK’s leading thinkers and campaigners including Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti, Tony Benn, Diane Abbott MP, Iain Dale, Nick Clegg MP, Peter Tatchell, Kate Adie, Vivienne Westwood and many more.

The event takes place Satuday June 6 at Methodist Central Hall, Westminser. Tickets cost £15 or free to liberty members. Please click here to book your ticket and for more information and speakers.

Index on Censorship at Global Forum on Freedom of Expression in Oslo

Chief executive of Index on Censorship John Kampfner and associate editor Rohan Jayasekera will represent Index on Censorship at Junes Global Forum on Free of Expression in Olso. John will be speaking at the week long event dedicated to exploring and celebrating freedom of expression.

The event takes place on 1- 6 June in The House of Literature, Olso, Norway. For more details on the forum pleaseclick here

The means and ends of ‘neo-censorship’

A conference tackling new forms of censorship goes online September 20, inviting readers all over the world the chance to cite examples of what the organisers call ‘neo-censorship’.

Neo-censorship is a kind of control on opinion that moves beyond the traditional model — that of the state, the law and the secret policeman. Today’s censors can be found in big business, courtrooms, schools, newsrooms. They block ideas out of habit, or prejudice or fear and often in secret.

The organisers cite papers that refuse to print fair opinions, museums that refuse to exhibit art, schools that refuse to teach scientific theories, libraries that refuse to buy books, movie companies that cut scenes.

‘We hold that this kind of censorship is more dominant in Western countries than (classical) state censorship. Do you agree? And if you do, what can we do about it?’

One option is to join the Worldchat being organised for the Amsterdam World Book Capital programme 19-20 September. The chat is part of an International Symposium on Neo-censorship held in the city that week.

The organisers invite you to send examples of neo-censorship before 12 September to add to discussion statements for the session (worldchat@balie.nl).

There are four chat spaces planned.

• Neo-censorship: How are we doing in 2008? Are we moving forward to an ever more free world? Or are we worse off than, say, ten years ago?
• Neo-censorship and news media: Do newspapers print all sorts of opinions, or do they actually obstruct debate from being held?
• Neo-censorship in a multicultural society: How do minority and majority groups obstruct the meaning of the other from being heard?
• Neo-censorship and archives: How do archives and libraries prevent opinions from being heard by present and future generations?

The discussions will be led by Ingmar Vriesema, editor of the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, Bert Brussen of the internetforum geenstijl, Rohan Jayasekera of Index on Censorship and Paul Sturges, chair of the International Federation of Library Associations’s group on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE).

Neo-censorship will have a stifling impact on free expression and freedom of information, with drastic consequences for the world of writing and publishing. The symposium supporters argue that authors, publishers, librarians and booksellers should take urgent stock of neo-censorship’s rise and determine what can be done to counter it.

Amsterdam has been granted the title World Book Capital for 2008 by the UN cultural and educational agency UNESCO under the theme ‘Open Book’.

Chinese whispers

China is the source of some of today’s most vibrant writing, but are Chinese writers free to face up to the difficult issues facing their society in the 21t century, or are they forced to speak in a whisper? What are the key trends in popular and literary Chinese fiction? And is there a difference between mainland Chinese fiction and the work created by Chinese writers living in the United Kingdon? On the eve of the 19th anniversary of Tiananmen Square, we bring together leading authors Ma Jian, Diane Wei Liang and Liu Hong Cannon in a discussion chaired by Hari Kunzru.

The event also marks the launch of the latest issue of Index on Censorship, Made in China

Venue: Guardian Newsroom, 60 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3GA

How to book: Call 020 7713 0023 or book on-line.

Cyberspeech: the limits of free expression

Now that downloading the wrong kind of material can get you a prison sentence, is it time to challenge an encroachment on a fundamental liberty, or does the internet need tighter controls to combat the influence of extremism?

Index on Censorship presents a debate about the limits of free speech online, with AC Grayling, Panorama’s Shiraz Maher and Dr Ian Brown of the Oxford Internet Institute, chaired by Index editor Jo Glanville.

Call 0870 429 6883, or visit www.sohotheatre.com for tickets

Freedom of Expression Awards 2008: the nominees

The shortlists for the 2008 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards have been finalised. The awards will be presented on 21 April in London

The T R Fyvel Book Award

The Loser by Fatos Kongoli, Seren.
Holy Warriors: A journey into the Heart of Indian Fundamentalism by Edna Fernandes, Portobello
The Art of Political Murder: Who killed Bishop Gerardi? by Francisco Goldman, Atlantic Books
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, Penguin

The Guardian Journalism Award

Arat Dink (Turkey)
Huang Liangtian (China)
Iqbal Athas (Sri Lanka)
Manana Aslamazyan (Russian Federation)

The Bindmans Law and Campaigning Award

Lydia Cacho (Mexico)
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (Pakistan)
U Gambira (Burma)
Yetaai Vs China Telecom (China)

The Economist New Media Award

AJ Nakasila/Channel 4 New Media / Truevision (UK)
Ethio Zagol (Ethiopia)
Wikileaks (International / US)
Iran Proxy (Iran)

The Index Film Award

Battle For Haditha Dir: Nick Broomfield, 93 minutes, UK (2007)
Ahlam (Dreams) Iraq (2006), 110 Minute Running Time, Language: Arabic, English Sub-Titles
Black Gold Dir: Nick Francis and Marc Francis, Running Time: 78 minutes,
12.08 East of Bucharest (A Fost sau n-a fost?) Dir: Corneliu Porumboiu, Romania, 2006 / 89 Mins / In Romanian with English Subtitles

For Hrant, for Justice: the ongoing struggle for freedom of expression in Turkey

Documentary screening and panel discussion

For Hrant, for Justice: the ongoing struggle for freedom of expression in Turkey

7pm Thursday 28 February 2008
Amnesty International UK - The Human Rights Action Centre

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Index Events

Index on Censorship hosts a number of events on censorship and free speech issues throughout the year. Remember to check this page for details.