20 Apr 18 | Index in the Press
Index on Censorship honours a young collective sharing their experiences on social media of life in a land plagued by violence, corruption and poverty. Read the full article
19 Apr 18 | Awards
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/o-Bb-sJQ0Qg”][vc_column_text]In the last four years as head of Index I have used various ways to describe this organisation, but a friend hit it on the head earlier this week when she emailed about a vigil she was organising in London. “Index,” she said “please don’t forget to bring your megaphone.”
And that’s us. That’s what we do. Index brings the megaphone. Both literally and metaphorically.
We amplify the voices of those facing censorship – by publishing their work, by campaigning on their behalf, and by supporting them through initiative like the awards fellowship. And we amplify the cause of freedom of expression by promoting debate about it.
Why do we do it?
We do it because we believe freedom of expression is not just a fundamental freedom, but the fundamental freedom. The one on which all others are based. Without freedom of expression how do we begin to articulate our desire for all other freedoms – the freedom to love whomever we choose, to express our faith – or lack of it – or our political beliefs. Freedom of expression allows us to test our ideas, posit our opinions – and to have those ideas and opinions tested. Freedom of expression is not a freedom that benefits only the powerful and privileged. It is what allows us to hold them to account. Free speech has been at the heart of resistance and reform movements since time immemorial. From women’s suffrage to gay rights. As civil rights activist and US congressman John Lewis observed: “Without freedom of speech and the right to dissent, the Civil Rights movement would have been a bird without wings.”
Freedom of expression gives hope, thought and desire flight — and it is a right that continues to benefit modern movements for change.
It is also freedom that is hard won but easily lost.
Index has fought for this freedom for the past 46 years. We make good on our belief that everyone should be able to express themselves free from fear of harm or persecution by publishing work by censored writers and artists, by monitoring threats to media freedom, and through our awards fellowship.
Our goal in all of this is the same: to amplify the voices of those fighting to be heard – no matter what their views.
We are proud to know and to celebrate not just tonight’s winners, but also all of this year’s nominees – and we are glad that some, like Silvanos, are able to be with us this evening. We are proud to be joined by former winners Zaina Erhaim, Safa Al Ahmad and to be celebrating tonight’s winners with other courageous defenders of free speech: Sayed Alwadaei, Matthew and Paul Caruana Galizia – who are ensuring not only that the killers of their mother Daphne are brought to justice but that her stories and those of individuals like her see the light of day.
And as we remember Daphne we also think of those winners who cannot be with us this evening such as Nabeel Rajab and Bassel Khartabil.
Freedom of expression needs such passionate defenders. We need such passionate defenders of freedom of expression.
But freedom of expression is not simply about defending a principle. Freedom of expression needs defenders, yes, but it also needs friends. As we heard from Zaheena Rasheed, sometimes all you need to carry on is the knowledge that you are not alone.
Your presence here this evening reminds all those who fight to make their voices heard, and who champion the rights of everyone to speak freely, that they are not alone.
But, as those of you who have attended an awards event before know, freedom of expression is not free. Even megaphones cost money. Index achieves an enormous amount with a staff of just 12 people, whom I salute and applaud this evening, and with the help of supporters like the Edwardian Hotels Group who have generously provided tonight’s venue, drinks and canapes – as well as the accommodation for our winners. Despite this, we cannot help all those we want to. We want to do more. And we’d like you to help us to do that.
So, this is the part of the evening where you get to express yourselves. I’d like to ask each and every one of you who does not already support Index – and those who do – to take that pen and to express yourself by making a donation to Index. Now.
Let’s speak loudly together and lift up the voices not just of Yanelys and Luis, Wendy, Guy and Ahmad but all those fighting to speak freely.
Thank you.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
19 Apr 18 | Awards, Cuba, Fellowship, Fellowship 2018
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/-UpVto-2Sf0″][vc_column_text]
Perla Hinojosa, Fellowship and Advocacy Officer at Index on Censorship, holds the 2018 Freedom of Expression Arts Award for Cuban arts collective Museum of Dissidence, who could not attend the Freedom of Expression Awards. (Photo: Index on Censorship)
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara: First of all I would like to thank Index and everyone for being here. We had to do this via video because the bureaucracy, the embassies and the powers that be prevented us from being here to accept the award. It’s sad, because we would have liked to share this moment with all of you and the happiness that we feel receiving this award. This award for us means a lot but it also means a lot to all the artists who have preceded us and who are the reason why we have been able to work with a little bit more freedom and a little less fear. Antonia Eiriz, Tania Bruguera, Danilo Maldonado, Angel Delgado and all the artists who have suffered a lack of freedom of expression and creative freedom and who in one way or the other have never given up and have fought for their rights.
Yanelys Nuñez Leyva: On my part, I am happy because this is a boost, where the work of the museum is recognised internationally. This is not the work of just two people, it’s the work of a big collective. There’s a lot of artists but also many activists who are involved in the projects of the Museum of Dissidence. And for us, this is a recognition for them as well.
Luis Manuel: Freedom of expression is an integral part of all societies. It’s what allows us to question all the processes that can happen to an individual. From being able to tell a mother that her way of bringing up her children in a certain way is aggressive or not. To being able to say a political system is corrupt. To being able to express yourself to another person without facing violence or repression.
Yanelys: For me, freedom of expression is like breathing and being able to move every day. It’s something natural that enables us to improve ourselves and grow.
Luis Manuel: Freedom of expression also promotes love towards yourself, towards other people and all the people around you.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84882″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
For his one-man protests, Ildar Dadin was sent to prison in December 2015 where he was tortured, before his conviction was quashed in February 2017. Read the full profile.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84888″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Despite the persecution he faces for his work, Rebel Pepper continues to satirise the Chinese state from a life in exile in Japan. Read the full profile
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84889″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Established in 2015, Turkey Blocks is an independent digital research organisation that monitors internet access restrictions in Turkey. Read the full profile.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84887″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Maldives Independent, the Maldives’ premiere English publication and one of the few remaining independent media outlets, was formed in exile in Sri Lanka in 2004. Read the full profile.
[/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:1524235545550-0aab9a14-081b-8″ taxonomies=”8935″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
19 Apr 18 | Awards, Fellowship, Fellowship 2018
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/ShavP70VY4o”][vc_single_image image=”99812″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms is one of the few human rights organisations still operating in a country which has waged an orchestrated campaign against independent civil society groups. Egypt is becoming increasingly hostile to dissent, but ECRF continues to provide advocacy, legal support and campaign coordination, drawing attention to the many ongoing human rights abuses under the autocratic rule of President Abdel Fattah-el-Sisi. Their work has seen them subject to state harassment, their headquarters have been raided and staff members arrested. ECRF are committed to carrying on with their work regardless of the challenges.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am honoured being with you this evening, no words can explain my gratitude to Index on Censorship for such an opportunity to speak in front of you and for having this valuable prize on behalf of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms. Such international recognition makes us stronger.
No matter how dark is the moment, love and hope are always possible.
And when I speak of love and hope, I have to speak about Hanan Badeldin, the young lady whose husband Khaled Hafez disappeared five years ago, and she persistently kept looking for him all this time through visiting all prisons, asking forcibly disappeared people who reappeared if they saw her husband in any detention facilities they had been to. During one of these visits, almost a year ago, Hanan was arrested and detained on charges of smuggling an illicit item into prison. This illicit item was a paper with the name of her husband and the date of his disappearance, asking to be circulated among prisoners so that anyone who might have seen her husband could give her any information about him
Did Hanan surrender? No, in every renewal of her detention session, she took the photo of her husband with her, raising it in the hope that any other prisoner there might identify where he was.
And when I speak of love and hope, I have to speak about Ibrahim Metwally, whose son Amr disappeared in 2013. Ibrahim kept looking for him for more than four years and Ibrahim is now in jail. Why? Because he formed the association of the families of the forcibly disappeared, and this has been sufficient reason for the authorities to lock him up in solitary confinement in a cell full of garbage for more than a year.
And when I speak of love and hope, I have to speak about Paola Regeni and her son Giulio, an Italian PhD student who lived in Egypt, who disappeared and was killed in Egypt in 2016. For more than two years she has sparked waves of hope and persistence both in Egypt and Italy, speaking each and every time about enforced disappearances in Egypt, speaking out for the truth for Giulio and the disappeared in Egypt.
And when I speak of love and hope, I have to speak about the great lawyers who spend a lot of sleepless nights trying to help victims in Egypt and the wonderful researchers and campaigners who remain the voice of the voiceless victims.
Love and hope were my cell mates when I was kept in solitary confinement at this time almost two years ago in a dark cell where I was deprived of even having a pillow and let me tell you, they were the perfect companions.
Love and hope are our sole weapons against our greatest enemy fear. Together we will conquer it, and it is not an anticipation, it is a promise.
Truth for Giulio Regeni and every Giulio in Egypt.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s an honour to be here with you tonight. Thank you so much.
Full profile[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84882″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
For his one-man protests, Ildar Dadin was sent to prison in December 2015 where he was tortured, before his conviction was quashed in February 2017. Read the full profile.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84888″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Despite the persecution he faces for his work, Rebel Pepper continues to satirise the Chinese state from a life in exile in Japan. Read the full profile
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84889″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Established in 2015, Turkey Blocks is an independent digital research organisation that monitors internet access restrictions in Turkey. Read the full profile.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84887″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Maldives Independent, the Maldives’ premiere English publication and one of the few remaining independent media outlets, was formed in exile in Sri Lanka in 2004. Read the full profile.
[/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:1524235546790-0bd59964-8ec6-6″ taxonomies=”8935″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
19 Apr 18 | Awards, Fellowship, Fellowship 2018
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/mCmRy7htLos”][vc_column_text]
Congolese digital activist Guy Muyembe of 2018 Freedom of Expression Digital Activism Award-winning Habari RDC (Photo: Index on Censorship)
Launched in 2016, Habari RDC is a collective of more than 100 young Congolese bloggers and web activists, who use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to give voice to the opinions of young people from all over the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their site posts stories and cartoons about politics, but it also covers football, the arts and subjects such as domestic violence, child exploitation, the female orgasm and sexual harassment at work. Habari RDC offers a distinctive collection of funny, angry and modern Congolese voices, who are demanding to be heard.
In the early 2000s a young teenager wanted to share what he thought of Congolese society. It was so important to him. He had so much to say. He, the boy who grew up in the mining region of Katanga in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, wanted only one thing: to finally speak.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is almost 10 times the size of the United Kingdom. One of the European explorers described this immense territory as a geological scandal. Little did he know how accurate he was being. This country is a scandal. In a country that supplies minerals needed to make your smartphones more than two million of its children are victims of malnutrition and its young people are idled by massive unemployment.
In the mid-2000s, I discovered the internet and its applications like blogs and social networks. It was great. I immediately realised the power of this tool. Finally, I had in my hands a means of allowing me to denounce these scandals.
In a country like mine, there are multiple polarisations, and at all scales of power. The Guardian, last year mentioned the transition to the era of the post-truth, people no longer believe the facts. In the DRC, we have been pioneers in this area. The spread of the rumour was there before social networks, it has only grown since.
It is in this context that Habari, our organisation was formed around 100 bloggers distributed around the country. We are a team of editors who verify the facts that we rely on. We may not always agree because we have diverse opinions, but we all work together for the greater good of our country.
Great is my joy on this day to receive, on behalf of the Congolese blogging community Habari DRC, this Index on Censorship Digital Activism Award. I consider this honour more a recognition than a reward. In my opinion, all the Congolese bloggers are invited on this day to redouble their efforts to make freedom of expression on the internet triumph.
First and foremost, I would like to thank the team that I have the chance to coordinate. All bloggers who see Habari as a big Congolese family and our hundreds of thousands of readers and commentators.
I would like to thank Index for recognising our work, our activism and, above all, our honesty, which is our are our cardinal value.
I would also like to thank RNW Media, the Dutch organisation that supports us on a daily basis.
My thoughts are with all those who are imprisoned, tortured and humiliated for exercising their freedom of expression.
Long live Habari DRC! Long live Index Censorship!
Full profile.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84882″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
For his one-man protests, Ildar Dadin was sent to prison in December 2015 where he was tortured, before his conviction was quashed in February 2017. Read the full profile.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84888″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Despite the persecution he faces for his work, Rebel Pepper continues to satirise the Chinese state from a life in exile in Japan. Read the full profile
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84889″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Established in 2015, Turkey Blocks is an independent digital research organisation that monitors internet access restrictions in Turkey. Read the full profile.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84887″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Maldives Independent, the Maldives’ premiere English publication and one of the few remaining independent media outlets, was formed in exile in Sri Lanka in 2004. Read the full profile.
[/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:1524235551501-336b69ac-5b19-5″ taxonomies=”8935″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
19 Apr 18 | Awards, News and features
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlUhPA3TuB57QMClBRit7rIZOSam_Orbm”][vc_column_text]A public art project and website celebrating dissent in Cuba and a collective of young bloggers and web activists who give voice to the opinions of young people from all over the Democratic Republic of Congo are among the winners of the 2018 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards.
The winners, who were announced on Thursday evening at a gala ceremony in London, also include one of the only human rights organisations still operating in Egypt and an investigative journalist from Honduras who regularly risks her life for her right to report on what is happening in the country.
Awards were presented in four categories: arts, campaigning, digital activism and journalism.
The winners are: Cuban art collective The Museum of Dissidence (arts); the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (campaigning); Habari RDC, a collective of young Congolese bloggers and activists (digital activism); and Honduran investigative journalist Wendy Funes (journalism).
“These winners deserve global recognition for their amazing work,” said Index on Censorship CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “Like all those nominated, they brave massive personal and political hurdles simply so that others can express themselves freely.”
Drawn from more than 400 public nominations, the winners were presented with their awards at a ceremony at The Mayfair Hotel, London, hosted by “stand-up poet” Kate Fox.
Actors, writers and musicians were among those celebrating with the winners. The guest list included The Times columnist and chair of Index David Aaronovitch, BBC presenter Jonathan Dimbleby, philosopher AC Grayling, TV journalist Trevor Phillips, lead commissioner for the Commission for Countering Extremism Sara Khan, Serpentine Galleries CEO Yana Peel, poet Sabrina Mahfouz, cartoonist Martin Rowson, founder of the Swedish Pirate Party Rick Falkvinge and more.
Winners were presented with cartoons created by Khalid Albaih, a Romanian-born Sudanese social media based political cartoonist who considers himself a virtual revolutionist.
Each of the award winners will become part of the fourth cohort of Freedom of Expression Awards fellows. They join last year’s winners — Chinese political cartoonist Rebel Pepper (arts); Russian human rights activist Ildar Dadin (campaigning); Digital collective Turkey Blocks (digital activism); news outlet Maldives Independent and its former editor Zaheena Rasheed (journalism) — as part of a world-class network of campaigners, activists and artists sharing best practices on tackling censorship threats internationally.
Through the fellowship, Index works with the winners – both during an intensive week in London and the rest of the awarding year – to provide longer term, structured support. The goal is to help winners maximise their impact, broaden their support and ensure they can continue to excel at fighting free expression threats on the ground.
This year’s panel of judges included Razia Iqbal, a journalist for BBC News, Tim Moloney QC, deputy head of Doughty Street Chambers, Yana Peel, CEO of the Serpentine Galleries, and Eben Upton CBE, a founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation and CEO of Raspberry Pi.
Awards judge Eben Upton said: “”The ability to speak freely is a key foundation of democratic society and the rule of law: absent the ability to openly identify the abuse of power, extractive economic conditions, and exclusive political institutions, proliferate. This is why freedom of expression is so precious, and so often under attack from those in power.
This is the 18th year of the Freedom of Expression Awards. Former winners include activist Malala Yousafzai, cartoonist Ali Ferzat, journalists Anna Politkovskaya and Fergal Keane, and Bahrain Center for Human Rights.
Ziyad Marar, President of Global Publishing at SAGE said: “The protection and promotion of free speech is a belief firmly entrenched within our values at SAGE. As both publisher of the magazine and sponsors of tonight’s awards, we are proud to support Index in their mission as they defend this right globally. We offer our warmest congratulations to those recognised and remain both humbled and awed by their inspirational achievements.”[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”99882″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”99874″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”2018 Freedom of Expression Arts Award ” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”99814″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]The Museum of Dissidence, Cuba
The Museum of Dissidence is a public art project and website celebrating dissent in Cuba. Set up in 2016 by acclaimed artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and curator Yanelys Nuñez Leyva, their aim is to reclaim the word “dissident” and give it a positive meaning in Cuba. The museum organises radical public art projects and installations, concentrated in the poorer districts of Havana. Their fearlessness in opening dialogues and inhabiting public space has led to fierce repercussions: Nuñez was sacked from her job and Otero arrested and threatened with prison for being a “counter-revolutionary.” Despite this, they persist in challenging Cuba’s restrictions on expression.
Speech: The Museum of Dissidence: “Freedom of expression is an integral part of all societies”
Profile: Museum of Dissidence creators remain fiercely loyal to their project[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”2018 Freedom of Expression Campaigning Award ” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”99880″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, Egypt
The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms is one of the few human rights organisations still operating in a country which has waged an orchestrated campaign against independent civil society groups. Egypt is becoming increasingly hostile to dissent, but ECRF continues to provide advocacy, legal support and campaign coordination, drawing attention to the many ongoing human rights abuses under the autocratic rule of President Abdel Fattah-el-Sisi. Their work has seen them subject to state harassment, their headquarters have been raided and staff members arrested. ECRF are committed to carrying on with their work regardless of the challenges.
Speech: ECRF: “No matter how dark is the moment, love and hope are always possible”
Profile: Egytian Commission for Rights and Freedom advocates for a democratic Egypt[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”2018 Freedom of Expression Digital Activism Award ” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”99888″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Habari RDC, Congo
Launched in 2016, Habari RDC is a collective of more than 100 young Congolese bloggers and web activists, who use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to give voice to the opinions of young people from all over the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their site posts stories and cartoons about politics, but it also covers football, the arts and subjects such as domestic violence, child exploitation, the female orgasm and sexual harassment at work. Habari RDC offers a distinctive collection of funny, angry and modern Congolese voices, who are demanding to be heard.
Speech: Guy Muyembe of Habari RDC: “Great is my joy on this day to receive this award on behalf of the Congolese blogging community”
Profile: Habari RDC merges young political minds to fight injustice online[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”2018 Freedom of Expression Journalism Award ” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”99885″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Wendy Funes, Honduras
Wendy Funes is an investigative journalist from Honduras who regularly risks her life for her right to report on what is happening in the country, an extremely harsh environment for reporters. Two journalists were murdered in 2017 and her father and friends are among those who have met violent deaths in the country – killings for which no one has ever been brought to justice. Funes meets these challenges with creativity and determination. For one article she had her own death certificate issued to highlight corruption. Funes also writes about violence against women, a huge problem in Honduras where one woman is killed every 16 hours.
Speech: “I dedicate this prize to my fellow people of Honduras”
Profile: Wendy Funes fearlessly pursues investigative journalism in Honduras[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Jodie Ginsberg: “Let’s speak loudly together and lift up the voices not just of Yanelys and Luis, Wendy, Guy and Ahmad but all those fighting to speak freely“” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”99892″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]In the last four years as head of Index I have used various ways to describe this organisation, but a friend hit it on the head earlier this week when she emailed about a vigil she was organising in London. “Index,” she said “please don’t forget to bring your megaphone.”
And that’s us. That’s what we do. Index brings the megaphone. Both literally and metaphorically.
We amplify the voices of those facing censorship – by publishing their work, by campaigning on their behalf, and by supporting them through initiative like the awards fellowship. And we amplify the cause of freedom of expression by promoting debate about it.
Why do we do it?
We do it because we believe freedom of expression is not just a fundamental freedom, but thefundamental freedom. The one on which all others are based. Without freedom of expression how do we begin to articulate our desire for all other freedoms – the freedom to love whomever we choose, to express our faith – or lack of it – or our political beliefs. Freedom of expression allows us to test our ideas, posit our opinions – and to have those ideas and opinions tested. Freedom of expression is not a freedom that benefits only the powerful and privileged. It is what allows us to hold them to account. Free speech has been at the heart of resistance and reform movements since time immemorial. From women’s suffrage to gay rights. As civil rights activist and US congressman John Lewis observed: “Without freedom of speech and the right to dissent, the Civil Rights movement would have been a bird without wings.”
Full speech
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
[/vc_column_text][vc_media_grid grid_id=”vc_gid:1524470042671-7220572a-a0cb-9″ include=”99937,99935,99936,99933,99931,99932,99930,99928,99929,99927,99925,99926,99924,99923,99922,99921,99920,99919,99918,99917,99916,99915,99914,99913,99912,99911,99910,99909,99908,99907,99906,99905,99904,99903,99902″][/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:1524470042687-513f86c4-3062-0″ taxonomies=”8935, 8734″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship is grateful for the support of the 2018 Freedom of Expression Awards sponsors: SAGE Publishing, Google, Private Internet Access, Edwardian Hotels, Vodafone, Vice News, Doughty Street Chambers and former Index Award-winning Psiphon.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
19 Apr 18 | Awards, Fellowship, Fellowship 2018
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/Cc3K8Bcvt6Y”][vc_column_text]
2018 Freedom of Expression Journalism Award-winning Honduran investigative journalist Wendy Funes. (Photo: Index on Censorship)
Wendy Funes is an investigative journalist from Honduras who regularly risks her life for her right to report on what is going on in the country. She is a courageous female voice, writing in a violent and corrupt society where two journalists have been killed this year and where women are regularly subjected to severe domestic violence and often killed. Funes is an inventive and passionate human rights reporter. For one article she got her own death certificate issued so that she could show up with the corruption in the civil registration office. For another one, they will be forced to fight for an investigation into children being forced to take to the streets of the country’s capital.
Looking out of one of the windows of my house a few days ago, while thinking about what to say this afternoon, I remembered the paradise tree in the garden which my childhood swing used to hang from. When it withered and died, I felt devastated. But now, forty years later, there are four big trees growing in its place and are all fruit-bearing.
For me, this award is so immense and significant that I can only explain it and express my thanks for it with a story that I have never told until now.
It is a story about a small fatherless child, yet another child left fatherless by the armed violence in Honduras. It is a story about a childhood filled with sadness. But the child learnt that whatever the circumstances, courage and strength are necessary to achieve one’s dreams: and the first step is always to dream.
In 2002 she began her first investigations as a journalist and it gave meaning to her life. But in 2008, censorship forced her to leave her dream job at the newspaper and by 2011 her constant fight for free expression and to tell the truth meant that all the doors to the media monopoly was closed to her.
But once again journalism saved her. She discovered that frustration with censorship is not the way. Rather, the way to overcome censorship is with the word, and although some doors were closed to her, doors to a more humane, less commercial, more rigorous kind of journalism were opened. The kind of journalism that investigates and pauses on each word, that does not proclaim impartiality but seeks the truth. The kind of journalism that is capable of showing her people that their society is being governed by drug trafficking and ruthless groups who since the 2009 coup have sacrificed lawyers, doctors, women, 70 journalists and executed young people in an almost invisible genocide.
The kind of journalism that can identify with a nation governed by someone who was rejected at the polls. Someone who controls the press that, in turn, covers up military assassinations, the corruption of officials and the everyday cruel realities for the Honduran people. Realities such as the 14-year-old girl sold by her father for a litre of alcohol whilst already pregnant, or the new-born baby who died of malnutrition and weighed more when he was born than when he died. In short, so many stories to tell. So many stories that the press is censored from telling.
But the young girl with whom this story began has been so fortunate that by refusing to remain silent and refusing to become part of this cruel system, by telling stories that a journalist should tell, she is being shown once again that the courage to dream is well-rewarded. That there is always someone willing to extend their hand and say “Come on, it’s worth resisting, it’s worth dreaming and fighting to transform all of this pain into a reward.” A reward which gives me hope.
I dedicate this prize to my fellow people of Honduras who demonstrate every day that they wish to move forward and overcome the violence, impunity and corruption which have been afflicting us for more than three decades.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84882″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
For his one-man protests, Ildar Dadin was sent to prison in December 2015 where he was tortured, before his conviction was quashed in February 2017. Read the full profile.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84888″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Despite the persecution he faces for his work, Rebel Pepper continues to satirise the Chinese state from a life in exile in Japan. Read the full profile
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84889″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Established in 2015, Turkey Blocks is an independent digital research organisation that monitors internet access restrictions in Turkey. Read the full profile.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84887″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Maldives Independent, the Maldives’ premiere English publication and one of the few remaining independent media outlets, was formed in exile in Sri Lanka in 2004. Read the full profile.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Mirando por una de las ventanas de mi casa, un par de días atrás, mientras pensaba en qué decir esta tarde, me acordé del árbol de Paraíso del jardín, desde el cual colgaba el columpio de mi niñez. Cuando se marchitó y se murió, me sentí desconsolada. Sin embargo ahora, unos treinta años después, ahí hay cuatro árboles grandes creciendo en su lugar y todos rinden fruta.
Para mí, este premio es tan inmenso e importante que solo puedo explicar y expresar mi agradecimiento con un cuento que, hasta ahora, nunca he relatado.
Es un cuento de una niña chiquita sin padre. Otro niño más dejado sin padre por la violencia armada en Honduras. Es un cuento de una niñez llena de tristeza. Pero la niña aprendió que en toda circunstancia, la alegría, el coraje y la fuerza son necesarios para lograr sus sueños: y el primer paso siempre es soñar.
En 2002 ella empezó sus primeras investigaciones como periodista y eso le dió un significado a su vida. Pero en 2008, la censura la obligó a dejar el trabajo de sus sueños en el periódico y en 2011, su constante lucha por la libertad de expresión y de exponer la verdad, significó que todas las puertas del monopolio le fueron cerradas.
Pero una vez más, el periodismo la salvó. Ella descubrió que luchar contra la censura, no era el mejor método. Más bien, el mejor método de combatir la censura era a través de la palabra, y a pesar de que algunas puertas le fueron cerradas, se le abrieron otras a otro tipo de periodismo más humano, menos comercial y más riguroso. El tipo de periodismo que investigaba y que hacía una pausa en cada palabra, el que no proclamaba la imparcialidad pero que buscaba la verdad. El tipo de periodismo capaz de enseñar a su pueblo que la sociedad está siendo gobernada por el tráfico de drogas y grupos despiadados, quienes, desde el golpe de Estado del 2009, han sacrificado a abogados, médicos, mujeres, unos setenta periodistas y han ejecutado a jóvenes en un casi invisible genocidio.
El tipo de periodismo que puede identificarse con una nación gobernada por una persona que fue rechazada en las elecciones. Una persona que controla la prensa, y que por ende encubre asesinatos, la corrupción de los oficiales y las crueles realidades cotidianas que sufre el pueblo de Honduras. Realidades tales como la muchacha de catorce años vendida por su padre por un litro de alcohol y mientras estaba embarazada, o el infante recién nacido que murió por la malnutrición y cuyo cuerpo pesaba más cuando nació que cuando murió.
Pero la jóven muchacha con quien empezó este cuento, ha sido tan afortunada que, por negarse a mantenerse callada y por negarse a ser parte de este cruel sistema, por contar cuentos que un periodista debería contar, está comprobando una vez más que el coraje de soñar está bien recompensado. En resumidas cuentas, hay tantos cuentos que contar. Tantos cuentos que la prensa está censurada de contar. Que siempre haya alguien que esté dispuesto a extender la mano y decir, Vamos, vale la pena resistir, vale la pena soñar y luchar para transformar todo este dolor en una recompensa>. Una recompensa que me da esperanza.
Dedico este premio a mis compatriotas de Honduras porque ellos demuestran todos los días, el deseo de salir adelante y vencer la violencia, impunidad y corrupción que nos han estado afligiendo con mayor calamidad en las últimas tres décadas.[/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:1524235559634-0014c057-81cc-3″ taxonomies=”8935″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
19 Apr 18 | Malta, Mapping Media Freedom, Media Freedom, News and features, United Kingdom
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Daphne Caruana Galizia, the Maltese investigative journalist who was assassinated in October 2017, had numerous lawsuits pending at the time of her murder.
Maltese libel laws are having an incredibly chilling effect on journalism and free speech, said British MP Tom Brake at a parliamentary meeting.
On the six-month anniversary of the killing of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, the meeting was told that her sons are facing 34 libel cases that were originally made against their mother. Under Maltese law the cases then roll over against other members of the family and the plaintiffs can seek damages against their estate.
Daphne’s son Paul Caruana Galizia said: “We want to stop the abuse of libel law: magistrates should throw out cases that are obviously vexatious, designed only to harass journalists and restrict freedom of expression.”
He added: “I also think that plaintiffs seeking damages against dead people shouldn’t continue.
At her death Daphne Caruana Galizia faced 47 libel suits in all – five of those were dropped automatically after her death but there are still 34 pending civil cases against the family.
Daphne’s son Paul, who was speaking on 16 April 2018 about his mother’s killing from a car bomb, said: “There was three decades of relentless harassment”.
Paul and his family also face threats against them, and are having to take personal security measures.
Brake, a Liberal Democrat MP, who chaired a discussion between NGOs and the writer’s family, said he would put together another Early Day Motion to call attention to the case in the UK parliament. Brake said he would seek to meet with Maltese MPs, who are visiting Britain in the next few weeks, to highlight his worries about the case. He will also be writing to the Maltese authorities about the weaknesses in the investigation.
The MP also called the situation a “tragedy that is happening within our EU borders”.
Paul Caruana Galizia said that the response from the government in Malta had been “weak” and “ineffective” and outlined many concerns with the investigation.
He highlighted the conflict of interest in the enquiry: “We are in this difficult situation now where the people our mother investigated – the police, the government, anti-money-laundering authorities – are now in charge of the investigation into her own assassination”.
Rebecca Vincent, London director of Reporters without Borders, said: “The fact that this could happen in the EU was a wakeup call I think to many of us. But six months later, unfortunately, it’s not so shocking, this is sadly becoming a new reality”.
This also follows the death of another investigative reporter Jan Kuciak who was shot dead in Slovenia in a hitman-style shooting in February.
The Guardian has also recently reported that Daphne Caruana Galizia’s husband, Peter Caruana Galizia, believes that those behind the killing are being shielded by the Maltese government.[/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:1524143013537-57a1643f-a0e9-4″ taxonomies=”18782″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
19 Apr 18 | Index in the Press
Visegrad/Insight devoted much of its November 2017 issue, ‘The Buzz Around the Ballot’ to the state of the media in its member countries – Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. ‘Media landscapes and disinformation in Central Europe’ gave serious attention to a subject most in the region shy away from. Read the full article
19 Apr 18 | Awards, News and features
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Each year, the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards gala honours courageous champions who fight for free speech around the world.
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 on Thursday 19 April in London and will be hosted by stand-up poet Kate Fox.
We will be live tweeting throughout the evening on @IndexCensorship. Get involved in the conversation using the hashtag #IndexAwards2018. Listen LIVE beginning at 7:30pm BST on Resonance FM
Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards nominees 2018
Arts
Jamal Ali, Azerbaijan
Jamal Ali is an exiled rap musician with a history of challenging Azerbaijan’s authoritarian regime. Ali was one of many who took to the streets in 2012 to protest spending around the country’s hosting of the Eurovision song contest. Detained and tortured for his role in the protests, he went into exile after his life was threatened. Ali has persisted in challenging the government by releasing music critical of the country’s dynastic leadership. Following the release of one song, Ali’s mother was arrested in a senseless display of aggression. In provoking such a harsh response with a single action, Ali has highlighted the repressive nature of the regime and its ruthless desire to silence all dissent.
Full profile
Silvanos Mudzvova, Zimbabwe
Playwright and activist Silvanos Mudzvova uses performance to protest against the repressive regime of recently toppled President Robert Mugabe and to agitate for greater democracy and rights for his country’s LGBT community. Mudzvova specialises in performing so-called “hit-and-run” actions in public places to grab the attention of politicians and defy censorship laws, which forbid public performances without police clearance. His activism has seen him be traumatically abducted: taken at gunpoint from his home he was viciously tortured with electric shocks. Nonetheless, Mudzvova has resolved to finish what he’s started and has been vociferous about the recent political change in Zimbabwe.
Full profile
The Museum of Dissidence, Cuba
The Museum of Dissidence is a public art project and website celebrating dissent in Cuba. Set up in 2016 by acclaimed artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and curator Yanelys Nuñez Leyva, their aim is to reclaim the word “dissident” and give it a positive meaning in Cuba. The museum organises radical public art projects and installations, concentrated in the poorer districts of Havana. Their fearlessness in opening dialogues and inhabiting public space has led to fierce repercussions: Nuñez was sacked from her job and Otero arrested and threatened with prison for being a “counter-revolutionary.” Despite this, they persist in challenging Cuba’s restrictions on expression.
Full profile
Abbad Yahya, Palestine
Abbad Yahya is a Palestinian author whose novel, Crime in Ramallah, was banned by the Palestinian Authority in 2017. The book tackles taboo issues such as homosexuality, fanaticism and religious extremism. It provoked a rapid official response and all copies of the book were seized. The public prosecutor issued a summons for questioning against Yahya while the distributor of the novel was arrested and interrogated. Yahya also received threats and copies of the book were burned. Despite this, he has spent the last year raising awareness of freedom of expression and the lives of young people in the West Bank and Gaza, particularly in relation to their sexuality.
Full profile
Campaigning
Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, Egypt
The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms is one of the few human rights organisations still operating in a country which has waged an orchestrated campaign against independent civil society groups. Egypt is becoming increasingly hostile to dissent, but ECRF continues to provide advocacy, legal support and campaign coordination, drawing attention to the many ongoing human rights abuses under the autocratic rule of President Abdel Fattah-el-Sisi. Their work has seen them subject to state harassment, their headquarters have been raided and staff members arrested. ECRF are committed to carrying on with their work regardless of the challenges.
Full profile
National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Kenya
The National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is the only organisation in Kenya challenging and preventing LGBTI discrimination through the country’s courts. Even though homosexuality isn’t illegal in Kenya, homosexual acts are. Homophobia is commonplace and men who have sex with men can be punished by up to 14 years in prison, and while no specific laws relate to women, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said lesbians should also be imprisoned. NGLHRC has had an impact by successfully lobbying MPs to scrap a proposed anti-homosexuality bill and winning agreement from the Kenya Medical Association to stop forced anal examination of clients.
Full profile
Open Stadiums, Iran
The women behind Open Stadiums risk their lives to assert a woman’s right to attend public sporting events in Iran. The campaign challenges the country’s political and religious regime, and engages women in an issue many human rights activists have previously thought unimportant. Iranian women face many restrictions on using public space. Open Stadiums has generated broad support for their cause in and out of the country. As a result, MPs and people in power are beginning to talk about women’s rights to attend sporting events in a way that would have been taboo before.
Full profile
Team 29, Russia
Team 29 is an association of lawyers and journalists that defends those targeted by the state for exercising their right to freedom of speech in Russia. It is crucial work in a climate where hundreds of civil society organisations have been forced to close and where increasingly tight restrictions have been placed on public protest and political dissent since mass demonstrations rocked Russia in 2012. Team 29 conducts about 50 court cases annually, many involving accusations of high treason. Aside from litigation, they offer legal guides for activists and advice on what to do when summoned by state security for interrogation.
Full profile
Digital Activism
Digital Rights Foundation, Pakistan
In late 2016, the Digital Rights Foundation established a cyber-harassment helpline that supported more than a thousand women in its first year of operation alone. Women make up only about a quarter of the online population in Pakistan but routinely face intense bullying including the use of revenge porn, blackmail, and other kinds of harassment. Often afraid to report how badly they are treated, women react by withdrawing from online spaces. To counter this, DRF’s Cyber Harassment Helpline team includes a qualified psychologist, digital security expert, and trained lawyer, all of whom provide specialised assistance.
Full profile
Fereshteh Forough, Afghanistan
Fereshteh Forough is the founder and executive director of Code to Inspire, a coding school for girls in Afghanistan. Founded in 2015, this innovative project helps women and girls learn computer programming with the aim of tapping into commercial opportunities online and fostering economic independence in a country that remains a highly patriarchal and conservative society. Forough believes that with programming skills, an internet connection and using bitcoin for currency, Afghan women can not only create wealth but challenge gender roles and gain independence.
Full profile
Habari RDC, Congo
Launched in 2016, Habari RDC is a collective of more than 100 young Congolese bloggers and web activists, who use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to give voice to the opinions of young people from all over the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their site posts stories and cartoons about politics, but it also covers football, the arts and subjects such as domestic violence, child exploitation, the female orgasm and sexual harassment at work. Habari RDC offers a distinctive collection of funny, angry and modern Congolese voices, who are demanding to be heard.
Full profile
Mèdia.cat, Spain
Mèdia.cat is a Catalan website devoted to highlighting media freedom violations and investigating under-reported stories. Unique in Spain, it was a particularly significant player in 2017 when the disputed independence referendum brought issues of censorship and the impartiality of news under the spotlight. The website provides an online platform that systematically catalogues censorship perpetrated in the region. Its map on censorship offers a way for journalists to report on abuses they have personally suffered.
Journalism
Avispa Midia, Mexico
Avispa Midia is an independent online magazine that prides itself on its use of multimedia techniques to bring alive the political, economic and social worlds of Mexico and Latin America. It specialises in investigations into organised crime and the paramilitaries behind mining mega-projects, hydroelectric dams and the wind and oil industry. Many of Avispa’s reports in the last 12 months have been focused on Mexico and Central America, where the media group has helped indigenous and marginalised communities report on their own stories through audio and video training.
Wendy Funes, Honduras
Wendy Funes is an investigative journalist from Honduras who regularly risks her life for her right to report on what is happening in the country, an extremely harsh environment for reporters. Two journalists were murdered in 2017 and her father and friends are among those who have met violent deaths in the country – killings for which no one has ever been brought to justice. Funes meets these challenges with creativity and determination. For one article she had her own death certificate issued to highlight corruption. Funes also writes about violence against women, a huge problem in Honduras where one woman is killed every 16 hours.
MuckRock, United States
MuckRock is a non-profit news site used by journalists, activists and members of the public to request and share US government documents in pursuit of more transparency. MuckRock has shed light on government surveillance, censorship and police militarisation among other issues. MuckRock produces its own reporting, and helps others learn more about requesting information. Last year the site produced a Freedom of Information Act 4 Kidz lesson plan to help educators to start discussions about government transparency. Since then, they have expanded their reach to Canada. The organisation hopes to continue increasing their impact by putting transparency tools in the hands of journalists, researchers and ordinary citizens.
Novosti, Croatia
Novosti is a weekly Serbian-language magazine in Croatia. Although fully funded as a Serb minority publication by the Serbian National Council, it deals with a whole range of topics, not only those directly related to the minority status of Croatian Serbs. In the past year, the outlet’s journalists have faced attacks and death threats mainly from the ultra-conservative far-right. For its reporting, the staff of Novosti have been met with protest under the windows of the magazine’s offices shouting fascist slogans and anti-Serbian insults, and told they would end up killed like Charlie Hebdo journalists. Despite the pressure, the weekly persists in writing the truth and defending freedom of expression.[/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:1524073803130-58a2be32-5f5a-7″ taxonomies=”8935″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
18 Apr 18 | Index in the Press
In London, a group of free expression, press freedom, and anti-corruption groups renewed called for full justice for the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, six months after her murder. Read the full article.
18 Apr 18 | Index in the Press
The prosecution of journalist Rafael Marques de Morais on charges of “outrage against a sovereign body” and “insult against a public office holder” represents a renewed effort by the Angolan government to stifle freedom of expression and critical reporting, PEN America said today. Read the full article.
