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Chen Guangcheng, a Chinese civil right activist who won the Freedom of Expression Award in the Whistleblower of the Year in 2007, today lives in New York City. When Index on Censorship honoured him, Chen Guangcheng was serving a prison sentence for organising a landmark class-action lawsuit against authorities in Linyi, Shandong province, for the excessive enforcement of the one-child policy.
Released in 2010 from prison, he remained under house arrest at his home in Dongshigu Village. In April 2012, Chen escaped his house arrest and fled to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. After negotiations with the Chinese government, he left the embassy for medical treatment in early May 2012. On 19 May 2012, he, his wife, and his two children were granted U.S. visas and departed Beijing for New York City. Due to the help of New York University professor Jerome A. Cohen, Chen was granted a placement at NYU. He started learning English and remained a public critic of the Chinese government, with editorials in the New York Times and other media outlets.
At the same time, Chen developed a close association with conservative Christian and pro-life figures in the United States. In October 2013, he accepted an offer from the conservative Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, and became a Distinguished Senior Fellow in Human Rights, as well as a Visiting Fellow of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at the Catholic University of America. In his role as Witherspoon fellow, he has delivered public lectures, including one at Princeton University entitled “China and the World in the 21st Century: The Next Human Rights Revolution” in which he asked for the support of America to the Chinese opposition that fights against the government.
Chen Guangcheng’s memoir, The Barefoot Lawyer, was published in March 2015.
Constantin Eckner is a member of Index on Censorship’s Youth Advisory Board. Originally from Germany, he graduated from University of St Andrews with a MA in modern history, and is currently a PhD candidate specialising in human rights, asylum policy and the history of migration.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”85476″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/newsite02may/2016/11/awards-2017/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards
Seventeen years of celebrating the courage and creativity of some of the world’s greatest journalists, artists, campaigners and digital activists
Russian activist Ildar Dadin spoke about the total breakdown of the rule of law and his own incarceration and torture at an event hosted by Doughty Street Chambers as part of the programme of events accompanying the 2017 Freedom of Expression Awards. Dadin is a finalist in the campaigning category.
Dadin, who was released from prison in February, is subject to a travel ban and spoke via video link, whilst his wife and fellow activist Anastasia Zotova was in London and acted as his translator. He had been arrested under the notorious ‘three strikes’ law which bars public protest in Russia.
Dadin began by explaining why he thinks he was treated so badly in Prison Number Seven of the Karelia region of the country.
“For Putin it’s very important to break the spirit of a free man and to make him afraid to make a prisoner stop protesting,” he said.
“It was very important for Vladimir Putin’s regime to make a person afraid [by using] violence because it is impossible for the regime when a person remains unafraid and is able to prove that, even in prison, you can be human and you can still express your point of view.”
In November 2016 a letter written by Dadin to his wife from prison detailed his abuse at the hands of the guards.
After the letter was published Dadin says that the physical violence stopped, but that other forms of torture continued. He said: “The psychological torture was even more than before. For example, prisoners are made to stand for an hour and wait for a conversation with the head of the prison and they are told they should stay upright.”
Dadin said that the general treatment of prisoners was dehumanising, that “they treated prisoners not like people, but like animals”.
Dadin and Zotova are often stymied by what they see as a corrupt Russian system. Dadin said: “When we write complaints to the prosecutor’s office, the Russian investigator’s office and the police, they tell us that it’s false, that no-one tortures prisoners. However our lawyers go every month to these prisons and they see prisoners with broken legs, broken arms, broken skulls, and it clearly means that these prisoners have been beaten.”
Dadin also alleges that Putin’s government is complicit. He told the audience: “The Putin regime hides the criminals who are involved in torture from criminal trials and they are not even fired. They still work in these prisons, and with these prisoners. This is because Russia is not a democratic or rights orientated society.”
Asked about whether things would change if Putin was ever deposed, Dadin and Zotova said they were pessimistic.
Dadin responded: “Putin is only a face of this system and the system should be changed. We need big changes in Russia, governmental changes. People who work in different institutions and commit crimes have the opportunity to beat or kill someone, and everyone who works in these systems knows that they are not in danger. They can do what they want without there being any punishment.”
Dadin then spoke about the recent reports of horrific abuse towards gay men in Chechnya, the semi-autonomous region where Ramzan Kadyrov is president. For Dadin, this is yet another symptom of Russian structural inadequacy.
“In Russia, Putin’s regime shows people that there will not be punishment for their crimes and the same thing is even worse in Chechnya. It is not like the rest of Russia. It is almost not Russia and Russian law doesn’t work there.
Zotova agrees: “In Chechnya It is ‘Ramzan [Kadyrov] said’, and ‘Ramzan’s law’. They have the opportunity to violate human rights and do whatever they want there. For example, to LGBT people.”
Dadin added: “Now, the only way to save people is to spread information as wide as possible.”
With an election and the football World Cup taking place in Russia in 2018, it will be a year of intense global scrutiny on Russia.
Zotova spoke of the World Cup. She said: “Different people in Russia are saying that it’s impossible, playing the World Cup in Russia is like the Olympic Games taking place in Nazi Germany. How can people come to Russia for football and enjoy themselves when we have Nazi camps in Karelia?”
Both Dadin and Zotova are committed to fight in defence of human rights issues across Russia. Zotova said: “Frankly speaking I would like to have another job, but I understand that were we to stop being involved in this [the fight for human rights], no-one else will do it.”
Dadin added: “If you use violence for your goals innocent people will suffer. I do not want it, but I am ready to sacrifice my life to prevent violence or war in Russia.”
He committed to continue with peaceful protest “without violence but with courage against a criminal regime that lies to its citizens”.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”12″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1492534036386-d1218b1f-7b31-2″ taxonomies=”8935, 15″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Beatrice Mtetwa is a noted Zimbabwean human rights attorney. She received the Bindmans Law and Campaigning Award from Index in 2006 for her efforts in protecting journalists arrested by Zimbabwe’s repressive regime, headed by President Robert Mugabe. Since receiving the award, she has continued in much the same vein and gone on to scale even greater heights – defending the human rights of Zimbabwean citizens at significant risk to her own liberty. Notable cases include defending, and securing the release of, two foreign journalists from The New York Times and The Telegraph in 2008.
In that case the two journalists, Barry Bearak and Stephen Bevam, were arrested in Harare as they attempted to cover the bitterly contested – and possibly rigged – presidential elections. The charges were based on the fact that they had practised journalism without being accredited – an act that did not amount to an offence under Zimbabwean law. Mtetwa was instrumental in securing the quick release of the journalists from an uncertain period of detention as political prisoners of the Mugabe regime. In 2009, she became the first African after Nelson Mandela, to receive the Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize for her efforts at advancing human rights in Zimbabwe.
In her attempts to protect Zimbabweans from violations of the rule of law, she has also found herself at the receiving end of targeted prosecutions. Most recently, in 2013, she was charged with “obstructing justice” during a police raid. The state alleged that she made insulting statements to officers during the raid. The specific allegations in question? That Mtetwa shouted “at the top of her voice” that the raid was “unconstitutional, illegal, and unlawful” – statements that the court found did not warrant the charges that were brought against her.
Despite this arrest, Mtetwa has not been deterred from her indefatigable efforts to hold her government accountable. In 2016, she acted to secure the release of leaders of the war veterans association taken into custody by the Mugabe regime. She has also fought for and won several other critical human rights cases for people persecuted by the Mugabe regime.
With all the instability and uncertainty surrounding the rule of law in Zimbabwe, there is one constant. The world continues to watch Beatrice Mtetwa with admiration.
Tarun Krishnakumar is a member of Index on Censorship’s Youth Advisory Board. He graduated from the National Law School of India in Bangalore and currently works with a New Delhi-based law firm on public policy and regulatory affairs with a focus on technology.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”85476″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/newsite02may/2016/11/awards-2017/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards
Seventeen years of celebrating the courage and creativity of some of the world’s greatest journalists, artists, campaigners and digital activists
In 2005 the winners of the Index Law Award went to the Center for Constitutional Rights, a non-profit legal advocacy organisation based in New York City. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements, the CCR actively work to uphold and protect the rights of people guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In 2004 the CCR gained significant attention when they won a landmark case in the United States Supreme Court, allowing some detainees at Guantanamo Bay detainment camp the rights to challenge their status in courts and gain legal representation. As a result, they have continued to provide legal assistance for people imprisoned in Guantanamo and had many released who were unlawfully detained. On the frontline of social justice, Guantanamo is only one of several issues that CCR covers. From mass incarceration and government surveillance to corporate human rights abuses, CCR’s work goes beyond the courtrooms, supporting grassroots organisations that work with directly impacted communities.
One of their current cases is a federal lawsuit in which CCR is representing Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), a non-profit LGBT advocacy organisation in Uganda. SMUG is suing Scott Lively, a US-based anti-gay extremist, for his active role in the persecution of LGBT people in Uganda. Lively is accused, together with the Ugandan government and religious leaders, of depriving the LGBT community of their fundamental human rights.
CCR is also dedicated to helping those who have fallen victim of discriminatory profiling, torture, and illegal detentions in the US as a result of the “war on terror”. This year, the CCR urged a federal appeals court to reinstate a lawsuit against the FBI for retaliating against Muslim American citizens who refused to become informants by placing them on the No Fly List.
Profiling of Muslims is a contentious topic following President Trump’s attempts to ban citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. After Trump’s second executive order in March, CCR issued a statement highlighting the dangers of state discrimination: “Trump’s hateful rhetoric has triggered a predictable spike in xenophobic and anti-Muslim acts of violence and harassment. State discrimination inevitably sends a signal of social acceptance for hate crimes and makes entire communities open targets to the nationalist rage Trump is fomenting.” CCR’s work is more important now than ever, as they continue to protect the legal rights of people, by using law and education as a positive force for social change.
Isabela Vrba Neves is a member of Index on Censorship’s Youth Advisory Board. She is a freelance writer and recent masters graduate from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he studied Political Theory.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”85476″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/newsite02may/2016/11/awards-2017/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards
Seventeen years of celebrating the courage and creativity of some of the world’s greatest journalists, artists, campaigners and digital activists
Mordechai Vanunu was granted Index on Censorship’s Special Award in 2004 for his work as a whistleblower on Israel’s nuclear programme. While working as a nuclear technician for the Israeli government in the 1980s he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for exposing their possession of nuclear weapons to the Sunday Times.
In April 2004 he was released and has since been fighting for his right to leave Israel – the foundational condition of Vanunu’s release from prison was a prohibition on leaving the country. In addition, he is prohibited from contacting embassies or having any interaction with foreigners that has not been pre-approved by Israeli officials. Shortly after his release he unsuccessfully applied for asylum in Norway, Ireland and Sweden. He has been rejected asylum status numerous times since it is not legally possible to apply for asylum in a country without physically being there. Essentially, so long as the prohibition on leaving Israel remains, he cannot meaningfully seek asylum.
Israel’s High Court has had a central role in determining Vanunu’s fate since 2004. In 2008 24 influential Norwegian lawyers signed the “Norwegian Lawyer’s Petition for Vanunu”. In September of the same year the eighth petition calling for Vanunu’s conditions to be lifted was rejected by the High Court. And less than 2 months ago Vanunu was convicted of violating the terms of his release by meeting with two US citizens in 2013 without permission from the authorities. He is to appear in court for sentencing this month.
This is only the latest struggle in the past 30 years of Vanunu’s life, after he first leaked photos of Isreali nuclear production plants to the Sunday Times in 1986. Vanunu’s struggle for freedom has not gone unnoticed by the world. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize every year since 1987. In 2010 the International League for Human Rights sent open letters to Benjamin Netanyahu seeking Vanunu’s free release. In 2015 Vanunu said that he had no desire nor even any means of spilling more secrets on Israel’s nuclear programme. He stated that he simply wants to join his wife, theology professor Kristin Joachimsen, in Norway. In the same year the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament wrote to the Guardian calling for a vigil to be held outside of the Israeli Embassy in London in honour of Vanunu’s birthday.
However, there may be hope. In October 2015 Vanunu appealed the terms of his release to the Israeli Supreme Court, and in January this year he shared on Facebook that the Supreme Court would rule on his appeal in the coming month. On March 3, 2017, Vanunu wrote: “We are now waiting for the Supreme Court decision, it could be anytime soon. And it could be good or nothing, I am used to all this for 31 years, 1986-2017. Freedom must come.”
Fionnuala McRedmond is a member of Index on Censorship’s Youth Advisory Board. She graduated last June from the University of Cambridge with a degree in Classics. She is now studying for a MSc in Political Theory at the London School of Economics.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”85476″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/newsite02may/2016/11/awards-2017/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards
Seventeen years of celebrating the courage and creativity of some of the world’s greatest journalists, artists, campaigners and digital activists
Drawn from more than 400 crowdsourced nominations, this year’s nominees include artists, journalists, campaigners and digital activists tackling censorship and fighting for freedom of expression. Many of the 16 shortlisted are regularly targeted by authorities or by criminal and extremist groups for their work: some face regular death threats, others criminal prosecution.
The gala takes place Wednesday 19 April at the Unicorn Theatre in London and will be hosted by comedian, actor and writer Katy Brand. If you aren’t lucky enough to be attending, you can catch the night’s events by tuning into coverage and a live Periscope stream @IndexCensorship beginning at 7:30PM BST.
We will be live tweeting throughout the evening on @IndexCensorship. Get involved in the conversation using the hashtag #IndexAwards2017.
Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards nominees 2017
Arts
Luaty Beirão, Angola
Rapper Luaty Beirão, also known as Ikonoklasta, has been instrumental in showing the world the hidden face of Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos’s rule. For his activism Beirão has been beaten up, had drugs planted on him and, in June 2015, was arrested alongside 14 other people planning to attend a meeting to discuss a book on non-violent resistance. Since being released in 2016, Beirão has been undeterred attempting to stage concerts that the authorities have refused to license and publishing a book about his captivity entitled “I Was Freer Then”, claiming “I would rather be in jail than in a state of fake freedom where I have to self-censor”.
Rebel Pepper, China
Wang Liming, better known under the pseudonym Rebel Pepper, is one of China’s most notorious political cartoonists. For satirising Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and lampooning the ruling Communist Party, Rebel Pepper has been repeatedly persecuted. In 2014, he was forced to remain in Japan, where he was on holiday, after serious threats against him were posted on government-sanctioned forums. The Chinese state has since disconnected him from his fan base by repeatedly deleting his social media accounts, he alleges his conversations with friends and family are under state surveillance, and self-imposed exile has made him isolated, bringing significant financial struggles. Nonetheless, Rebel Pepper keeps drawing, ferociously criticising the Chinese regime.
Fahmi Reza, Malaysia
On 30 January 2016, Malaysian graphic designer Fahmi Reza posted an image online of Prime Minister Najib Razak in evil clown make-up. From T-shirts to protest placards, and graffiti on streets to a sizeable public sticker campaign, the image and its accompanying anti-sedition law slogan #KitaSemuaPenghasut (“we are all seditious”) rapidly evolved into a powerful symbol of resistance against a government seen as increasingly corrupt and authoritarian. Despite the authorities’ attempts to silence Reza, who was banned from travel and has since been detained and charged on two separate counts under Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Act, he has refused to back down.
Two-tailed Dog Party, Hungary
A group of satirists and pranksters who parody political discourse in Hungary with artistic stunts and creative campaigns, the Two-tailed Dog Party have become a vital alternative voice following the rise of the national conservative government led by Viktor Orban. When Orban introduced a national consultation on immigration and terrorism in 2015, and plastered cities with anti-immigrant billboards, the party launched their own mock questionnaires and a popular satirical billboard campaign denouncing the government’s fear-mongering tactics. Relentlessly attempting to reinvigorate public debate and draw attention to under-covered or taboo topics, the party’s efforts include recently painting broken pavement to draw attention to a lack of public funding.
Campaigning
Arcoiris, Honduras
Established in 2003, LGBT organisation Arcoiris, meaning ‘rainbow’, works on all levels of Honduran society to advance LGBT rights. Honduras has seen an explosion in levels of homophobic violence since a military coup in 2009. Working against this tide, Arcoiris provide support to LGBT victims of violence, run awareness initiatives, promote HIV prevention programmes and directly lobby the Honduran government and police force. From public marches to alternative awards ceremonies, their tactics are diverse and often inventive. Between June 2015 and March 2016, six members of Arcoiris were killed for this work. Many others have faced intimidation, harassment and physical attacks. Some have had to leave the country because of threats they were receiving.
Breaking the Silence, Israel
Breaking the Silence, an Israeli organisation consisting of ex-Israeli military conscripts, aims to collect and share testimonies about the realities of military operations in the Occupied Territories. Since 2004, the group has collected over 1,000 (mainly anonymous) statements from Israelis who have served their military duty in the West Bank and Gaza. For publishing these frank accounts the organisation has repeatedly come under fire from the Israeli government. In 2016 the pressure on the organisation became particularly pointed and personal, with state-sponsored legal challenges, denunciations from the Israeli cabinet, physical attacks on staff members and damages to property. Led by Israeli politicians including the prime minister, and defence minister, there have been persistent attempts to force the organisation to identify a soldier whose anonymous testimony was part of a publication raising suspicions of war crimes in Gaza. Losing the case would set a precedent that would make it almost impossible for Breaking the Silence to operate in the future. The government has also recently enacted a law that would bar the organisation’s widely acclaimed high school education programme.
Ildar Dadin, Russia
A Russian opposition and LGBT rights activist, Ildar Dadin was the first, and remains the only, person to be convicted under a notorious 2014 public assembly law. Aimed at punishing anyone who breaks strict rules on protest, the law was enacted to silence dissent after a wave of demonstrations following Putin’s last election victory. Dadin’s crime was to stage a series of one-man pickets, often standing silently with a billboard, attempting to duck the cynical law and push for free expression. For his solo enterprise, Dadin was arrested and sentenced to three years imprisonment in December 2015. In November 2016, website Meduza published a letter smuggled from Dadin to his wife, exposing torture he claimed he was suffering alongside fellow prisoners. The letter, a brave move for a serving prisoner, was widely reported. A government investigation was prompted, and Dadin was transferred – against his will – to an undisclosed new location. A wave of public protest led to Dadin’s new location in a Siberian prison colony being revealed in January 2017. In February 2017, Russia’s constitutional and Supreme Courts suddenly quashed Dadin’s conviction, ruling he should be released and afforded opportunity for rehabilitation.
Maati Monjib, Morocco
A well-known academic who teaches African studies and political history at the University of Rabat since returning from exile, Maati Monjib co-founded Freedom Now, a coalition of Moroccan human rights defenders who seek to promote the rights of Moroccan activists and journalists in a country ranked 131 out of 180 on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index. His work campaigning for press freedom – including teaching investigative journalism workshops and using of a smartphone app called Story Maker designed to support citizen journalism – has made him a target for the authorities who insist that this work is the exclusive domain of state police. For his persistent efforts, Monjib is currently on trial for “undermining state security” and “receiving foreign funds.”
Digital Activism
Jensiat, Iran
Despite growing public knowledge of global digital surveillance capabilities and practices, it has often proved hard to attract mainstream public interest in the issue. This continues to be the case in Iran where even with widespread VPN usage, there is little real awareness of digital security threats. With public sexual health awareness equally low, the three people behind Jensiat, an online graphic novel, saw an an opportunity to marry these challenges. Dealing with issues linked to sexuality and cyber security in a way that any Iranian can easily relate to, the webcomic also offers direct access to verified digital security resources. Launched in March 2016, Jensiat has had around 1.2 million unique readers and was rapidly censored by the Iranian government.
Bill Marczak, United States
A schoolboy resident of Bahrain and PhD candidate in computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, Bill Marczak co-founded Bahrain Watch in 2013. Seeking to promote effective, accountable and transparent governance, Bahrain Watch works by launching investigations and running campaigns in direct response to social media posts coming from activists on the front line. In this context, Marczak’s personal research has proved highly effective, often identifying new surveillance technologies and targeting new types of information controls that governments are employing to exert control online, both in Bahrain and across the region. In 2016 Marczak investigated several government attempts to track dissidents and journalists, notably identifying a previously unknown weakness in iPhones that had global ramifications.
#ThisFlag and Evan Mawarire, Zimbabwe
In May 2016, Baptist pastor Evan Mawarire unwittingly began the most important protest movement in Zimbabwe’s recent history when he posted a video of himself draped in the Zimbabwean flag, expressing his frustration at the state of the nation. A subsequent series of YouTube videos and the hashtag Mawarire used, #ThisFlag, went viral, sparking protests and a boycott called by Mawarire, which he estimates was attended by over eight million people. A scale of public protest previously inconceivable, the impact was so strong that private possession of Zimbabwe’s national flag has since been banned. The pastor temporarily left the country following death threats and was arrested in early February as he returned to his homeland.
Turkey Blocks, Turkey
In a country marked by increasing authoritarianism, a strident crackdown on press and social media as well as numerous human rights violations, Turkish-British technologist Alp Toker brought together a small team to investigate internet restrictions. Using Raspberry Pi technology they built an open source tool able to reliably monitor and report both internet shut downs and power blackouts in real time. Using their tool, Turkey Blocks have since broken news of 14 mass-censorship incidents during several politically significant events in 2016. The tool has proved so successful that it has begun to be implemented elsewhere globally.
Journalism
Behrouz Boochani, Manus Island, Papua New Guinea/Australia
Iranian Kurdish journalist Behrouz Boochani fled the city of Ilam in Iran in May 2013 after the police raided the Kurdish cultural heritage magazine he had co-founded, arresting 11 of his colleagues. He travelled to Australia by boat, intending to claim asylum, but less than a month after arriving he was forcibly relocated to a “refugee processing centre” in Papua New Guinea that had been newly opened. Imprisoned alongside nearly 1000 men who have been ordered to claim asylum in Papua New Guinea or return home, Boochani has been passionately documenting their life in detention ever since. Publicly advertised by the Australian Government as a refugee deterrent, life in the detention centre is harsh. For the first 2 years, Boochani wrote under a pseudonym. Until 2016 he circumvented a ban on mobile phones by trading personal items including his shoes with local residents. And while outside journalists are barred, Boochani has refused to be silent, writing numerous stories via Whatsapp and even shooting a feature film with his phone.
Daptar, Dagestan, Russia
In a Russian republic marked by a clash between the rule of law, the weight of traditions, and the growing influence of Islamic fundamentalism, Daptar, a website run by journalists Zakir Magomedov and Svetlana Anokhina, writes about issues affecting women, which are little reported on by other local media. Meaning “diary”, Daptar seeks to promote debate and in 2016 they ran a landmark story about female genital mutilation in Dagestan, which broke the silence surrounding that practice and began a regional and national conversation about FGM. The small team of journalists, working alongside a volunteer lawyer and psychologist, also tries to provide help to the women they are in touch with.
KRIK, Serbia
Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (KRIK) is a new independent investigative website which was founded by a team of young Serbian journalists intent on exposing organised crime and extortion in their country which is ranked as having widespread corruption by Transparency International. In their first year they have published several high-impact investigations, including forcing Serbia’s prime minister to admit that senior officials had been behind nocturnal demolitions in a Belgrade neighbourhood and revealing meetings between drug barons, the ministry of police and the minister of foreign affairs. KRIK have repeatedly come under attack online and offline for their work –threatened and allegedly under surveillance by state officials, defamed in the pages of local tabloids, and suffering abuse including numerous death threats on social media.
Maldives Independent, Maldives
Website Maldives Independent, which provides news in English, is one of the few remaining independent media outlets in a country that ranks 112 out of 180 countries on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index. In August 2016 the Maldives passed a law criminalising defamation and empowering the state to impose heavy fines and shut down media outlets for “defamatory” content. In September, Maldives Independent’s office was violently attacked and later raided by the police, after the release of an Al Jazeera documentary exposing government corruption that contained interviews with editor Zaheena Rasheed, who had to flee for her safety. Despite the pressure, the outlet continues to hold the government to account.
Fergal Keane is a journalist who made his name as a war reporter at the end of millennium, covering conflicts from Congo and Rwanda to Kosovo. In 2003, the Index on Censorship recognised his efforts with their award for Outstanding Commitment to Journalism Integrity. It wasn’t Keane’s first award, and it wasn’t his last either. On top of his Orwell Prize (1996) and Amnesty International Press Award (1993) and Television Prize (1994), his OBE and his BAFTA (both from 1997), Keane has since added a Sony Gold award in 2009, for his inspiring Radio 4 series ‘Taking a Stand’, and the Ireland Funds Literary Award in 2015.
In 2004, following decades in the profession, Keane made the decision to stop entering active war zones. “I couldn’t justify potentially robbing my children of a father,” he told the Daily Telegraph in 2010. “I couldn’t do it anymore.” But despite a slight career shift, Keene continues his commitment to journalism and justice just as fervently. He is now a special correspondent for the BBC, still writing and broadcasting on topics like the refugee crisis, the Yemen conflict and the South Sudan civil war – though sometimes from afar – as well as often being dispatched to the latest scenes of terrorism in Europe, whether France, Belgium or Germany. Wherever he is, he retains an insight and awareness of historical context that few can match.
Beyond the BBC, he is also the author of several well-received books and in 2011 he received an honorary degree from the University of Liverpool, where he is now three years into a Professorial Fellowship. He is part of the university’s Institute of Irish Studies, teaching students on the Understanding Conflict masters programme.
Speaking to the university’s website in 2015, Fergal criticised the “endlessly reductive” mainstream press and urged his students to “always challenge your opinions with facts, every day of your life. You will only know what your opinions are worth if they are taken out of the box and subjected to the most severe tests. Facts, facts, facts.”
Not all Keane’s work is confined to journalism, however. In 2005, he founded Msaada, an NGO dedicated to assisting Rwandans – and Rwandan society – to recover from the 1994 genocide, through meaningful, income-generating projects. It continues to support such projects today.
Samuel Earle is a member of Index on Censorship’s Youth Advisory Board. He is a freelance writer and recent masters graduate from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he studied Political Theory. He lives in Paris.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”85476″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/newsite02may/2016/11/awards-2017/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards
Seventeen years of celebrating the courage and creativity of some of the world’s greatest journalists, artists, campaigners and digital activists
Grigory Pasko, was named Whistleblower of the Year at the 2001 Freedom of Expression Awards.
Grigory Pasko, a former naval officer and journalist for Russian Pacific Fleet newspaper Boyevaya Vakhta (Battle Watch), was imprisoned in 1997 after exposing Russia’s navy for illegally dumping nuclear waste in the Sea of Japan. He was arrested on charges of espionage and abuse of his official power as a former officer in the Russian navy.
Pasko was the winner of Index on Censorship’s International Whistleblower of the Year award in 2001.
Pasko spent 20 months in prison awaiting his first trial, and on 20 July 1999 he was acquitted of most of the charges. However, he was sentenced to three years in prison for abusing his authority as a naval officer. Pasko was finally released from prison under an amnesty in January 2003.
Although Russia’s 1990 Law on the Mass Media [1991] states that journalists are allowed to carry on investigations and Article 29 of the Russian Constitution bans censorship altogether, journalists are often persecuted for their work and subject to governmental harassment.
In March 2011, Pasko, along with his colleagues Igor Korolkov and Galina Sidorova, created an international NGO called the Community of Investigative Journalists – Foundation 19/29. The numbers 19 and 29 refer to the freedom of expression Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Russian Constitution.
Foundation 19/29 was created to provide guidance and assistance to Russian investigative reporters and bloggers who are in trouble due to their work and/or want to develop their professional skills.
Since his release from jail, Pasko has been campaigning for human rights and protection of the environment.
Index: How much more difficult is it now to be an informant than 16 years ago when you won the Index for Censorship International Whistleblower?
Pasko: The word “difficult” is no longer suitable. It is practically impossible without being detected and not “registered”. “To put on the register” means that suddenly there can be some difficulties: with obtaining a passport (as now at Dadin); with departure abroad; allegedly with non-payment of fines, taxes and so on; it can come with an apartment search or arrest (Mark Halperin recently) … Previously, this happened very rarely.
Index: What major projects are you currently working on and how does this differ from your work when you won the Index Awards?
Pasko: Since 2009, I have been engaged in teaching activities in the field of investigative journalism – journalists are, in fact, banned in Russia. Therefore, I am persecuted in all cities of Russia and in Moscow. I’m being squeezed out of the country, not giving me the opportunity to work. Our organization – Fund 19/29 http://foundation19-29.com/ was recognized as a “foreign agent” so that we had to stop our activities. Now there is a Fund 19/29, but already in Prague. In the same place, we conduct our training activities. In general, almost all independent NGOs are subject to harassment in Russia.
Index: How do you think the Russian government manages the information landscape? How does social media play a certain role in this?
Pasko: The Russian government (FSB, mostly) almost completely manages the information landscape. Those media and their blogs that still exist, for sure (if they are smart and sober) do not consider themselves independent, because they can be closed within a day. They are just allowed to exist. Social networks are relatively free so far. But they also gradually fall under the total dependence of the state (FSB). So the other day it happened with LiveJournal.
Index: What do you think, what will be the future for journalists in Russia?
Pasko: Independents will be persecuted, squeezed out of Russia, and those who remain will be imprisoned and / or killed. Independent journalism will not remain in the legal and free field. Only underground, in networks. The angry propaganda will occupy the entire information field.
Index: How did your attack in Siberia in September 2016 affect you?
Pasko: Personally, it did not. After two convictions and two imprisonments, I can only be killed, but not scared. But our partners in the regions were frightened and less likely to invite us to conduct studies on investigative journalism, despite the fact that there is a demand among young journalists, civil journalists and bloggers for this genre.
Index: Do you have any advice for other investigative journalists and informers working under a dangerously authoritarian regime?
Pasko: Be careful. Because no work should cost a human life. And, strangely enough, be bold – in the mass of its leadership of Russia (Chekists) are not only deceitful, but also cowardly. We need to learn to resist them – from the standpoint of legality, justice, respect for human rights and generally common sense. Journalism is a wonderful and necessary profession, and it deserves to be fought for by the journalists themselves.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”85476″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.indexoncensorship.org/newsite02may/2016/11/awards-2017/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards
Seventeen years of celebrating the courage and creativity of some of the world’s greatest journalists, artists, campaigners and digital activists
Farieha Aziz, director of 2016 Freedom of Expression Campaigning Award winner Bolo Bhi (Photo: Elina Kansikas for Index on Censorship)
It has been eight months since the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), also known as the cyber crimes bill, was passed and enacted in Pakistan. The law, which has been in place since August 2016, is meant to limit the amount of hate speech online and protect internet users against malicious cyber crimes, however, many are concerned that it has not followed up on these promises.
Bolo Bhi, a non-profit organisation and activist group and winners of the 2016 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award for Campaigning, has been vehemently opposed to PECA from the beginning because of its potential human rights violations and threats to the right to privacy and freedom of expression as the law would allow more unchecked government power and internet regulation.
Farieha Aziz, the director of Bolo Bhi, told Index on Censorship that there are simply not enough rules, oversight, and public awareness for the law to truly be effective in preventing cyber crime.
“If the government was really serious about the implementation of the law for the protection of the people, eight months on, where are the rules? Courts? Capacity of the Federal Investigation Agency, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, prosecutors and courts to deal with cases?” Aziz said. “Why the deafening silence on this both the government and the opposition?”
Aziz said that government critics and other dissenters have been silenced as a result of the law, but the government has yet to make any effective moves against real malicious threats. She noted that the Khabaristan Times, a satirical media organisation, was recently blocked online under Section 38 of PECA which allows the government to remove and censor any “objectionable content”.
“This essentially stems from a failure to still grasp how the internet and technology function, and where and how the law can or cannot be applied,” Aziz said.
One of the main problems, Bolo Bhi noted, is confusion and lack of clarity among the public of PECA’s rules and regulations.
“Social perceptions of what constitutes stalking, harassment, bullying, etc. and the legal definitions of these as well as what constitutes a crime under law can be very different,” Bolo Bhi said in the document.
In order to combat this, Bolo Bhi recommended increasing public awareness through various resources including public service messages and helpline numbers. Bolo Bhi also suggested the creation of an online complaint facility and a more transparent case management and tracking system that would be available to the public.
Another problem with effective enforcement of PECA includes a lack of financial resources and qualified professionals for online surveillance and responding to cases.
The PTA, one of the most prominent government agencies involved with the implementation of PECA, told the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology on the 5th of April that they do not have enough resources to properly manage and surveil all online content. Instead, the PTA suggested, the government should build closer relationships with social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter to help find and block and unacceptable or blasphemous content.
Bolo Bhi, however, suggested that the government itself should be held responsible for increasing the amount of trained investigation officers and state prosecutors who can properly handle an increasing caseload. If there is more legal and technical training for judicial officers, Bolo Bhi said, then cyber crimes can be dealt with more quickly and efficiently. Bolo Bhi also recommended increasing the number of third-party forensic labs in order to avoid further backlogging of cases.
Despite PECA’s lack of progress in creating a safe and sustainable internet for Pakistan, Bolo Bhi continues to fight on for fair and effective implementation of the Cybercrimes law.
“The law alone is no solution,” Bolo Bhi said. “Awareness of its existence, knowledge of the procedures, willingness to use it and them proper implementation for deliverance of justice that is tied with our criminal justice system and courts are all components of this, which need to be addressed simultaneously.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1492103286683-011373cf-290a-6″ taxonomies=”8093″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Poynter reported last month that the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and the Index on Censorship will form a database to track harms done to our press. Read the full letter
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”89122″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship, London Press Club and the Foreign Press Association will host a discussion about global media freedom at a special event to mark Index on Censorship’s Freedom of Expression Awards.
The finalists – crusading news platform Maldives Independent and fearless Serbian investigative journalists KRIK – will explore the challenges they face, ways in which they’ve successfully evaded censorship and their future predictions for global press freedom.
Featuring editors-in-chief from both outlets, chaired by Index on Censorship chief executive Jodie Ginsberg. Panel discussion followed by drinks.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
When: Tuesday 18 April 6-8pm
Where: Corinthia Hotel, Westminster, London SW1A 2BD
Tickets: Free. Registration required.
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”88437″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Doughty Street Chambers and Index on Censorship invite you to a breakfast talk on Tuesday 18 April with guest speakers Ildar Dadin and his wife Anastasia Zotova.
Dadin is a well known Russian opposition and LGBT rights activist, and is the only person to have been convicted under a 2014 law which seeks to crush protest. For a series of one-man pickets, often silent, he was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment notwithstanding that the prosecutor sought a shorter sentence, and that before the anti-protest law was enacted a sentence for such activity would have been limited to a fine or a suspended sentence. Dadin will speak about his time in Russian prison colonies, including the torture he and other prisoners suffered until he was unexpectedly released in February of this year. He will also speak about the horrific news coming from Chechnya in recent days of state-sanctioned violence against gay men, and the difficulty in getting information on these abuses to the world because of Russia’s severe restrictions on press freedom and journalists.
Dadin will be speaking via video-link. Despite the sudden and unexpected quashing of his conviction in February, he remains subject to a travel ban preventing him from leaving Russia. Even though Article 27.2 of the Russian Constitution states “Everyone may freely leave the Russian Federation. Citizens of the Russian Federation shall have the right to freely return to the Russian Federation”, the number of Russian citizens prevented from leaving the country on the orders of the Kremlin is rising year on year.
The session, chaired by Russia expert and Doughty Street barrister Malcolm Hawkes, will conclude with a discussion of the action that lawyers and others can take to support Dadin and others in Russia who seek to promote free expression and a free press, and who need help to challenge travel bans, so that they can convey information to the world of State sponsored abuses of civil liberties and human rights.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
When: Tuesday 18 April, 8:30-9:30am
Where: Doughty Street Chambers, 53-54 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LS
Tickets: Free. RSVP to events@doughtystreet.co.uk
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