Journalism
Zaina Erhaim has been named the winner of the 2016 Freedom of Expression Journalism Award, at a ceremony at London’s Unicorn Theatre.
While journalists and citizens fled, Erhaim returned to her war-ravaged country and the city of Aleppo in 2013 to ensure those remaining were not forgotten. She is now one of the few female journalists braving the twin threat of violence from both ISIS and the president, Bashar al-Assad. Erhaim has trained hundreds of journalists, many of them women, and set up independent media outlets to deliver news from one of the world’s most dangerous places. In 2015 Erhaim filmed a groundbreaking documentary, Syria’s Rebellious Women, to tell the stories of women who are helping her country survive its darkest hour.
Pianist and awards judge James Rhodes said: “Not only is she reporting from Syria, she’s also training hundreds of other journalists to do the same. That, for me, is an immensely brave and courageous thing to be doing.”
Campaigning
Bolo Bhi has been named the winner of the 2016 Freedom of Expression Campaigning Award.
Activist group Bolo Bhi has orchestrated an impressive fight against attempts to censor the internet in Pakistan. The all-women management team have launched internet freedom programmes, published research papers, tirelessly fought for government transparency and run numerous innovative digital security training programmes. In 2015 the group turned their attention to the draconian Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill, organising an extraordinary campaign of events, lobbying, press conferences and online actions. They brought international attention to a landmark bill that would otherwise have been pushed through with little public attention.
Technology entrepreneur Bindi Karia and 2016 awards judge said: “Bolo Bhi are really using their insight into digital to try to change the law to ensure that people get access to content. It’s two women doing this in a country that sometimes can be very difficult.”
Digital Activism
GreatFire has been named the winner of the 2016 Freedom of Expression Digital Activism Award.
GreatFire is at the forefront of the fight against China’s severe web censorship. Using a variety of open-source tools, the organisation tracks China’s censorship infrastructure, hosts mirror sites to make censored material available and, in March 2015, launched an app that allows users to browse the officially forbidden web. Previously, the group created FreeWeibo, an uncensored version of the Chinese social platform. Despite ‘the Great Cannon’, a major cyber-attack by Chinese authorities in 2015, GreatFire has continued the fight for online freedom.
Technology entrepreneur Bindi Karia said: “GreatFire has been so innovative in using technology to combat firewalls and censorship to get news and information to people to on the ground in China. It’s interesting that have been hacked and that they were able to resist that. It shows that they are true technologists as well.”
Arts
Murad Subay has been named the winner of the 2016 Freedom of Expression Arts Award.
Artist Murad Subay was recognised for his street art projects that draw attention to Yemen’s war, institutionalised corruption and forced “disappearings”. Beginning his protests in 2011, Subay has sought to involve Yemeni citizens and the families of the missing in his projects, which take place in broad daylight. In 2015, Subay faced pressure from authorities who covered up his work or stopped him from extending his campaigns to other towns. However ordinary Yemenis — including victims’ families — have refused to be silenced, painting alongside Subay or repainting pieces scrubbed out by authorities.
Journalist Maria Teresa Ronderos and 2016 awards judge said: “The work of Murad Subay in Yemen moved me because it’s a way of letting the people in Yemen get their voices out there, really tell their story about the war. It’s a very beautiful and moving way of getting those voices heard.”
Music in Exile
Serge Martin Bambara, aka Smockey (Burkina Faso). Award supported by Patrón Tequila
The inaugural Music in Exile Fund Fellowship was presented to Burkinabe rapper and producer Serge Martin Bambara (aka Smockey). An icon of democracy in Burkina Faso, Smockey is an artist, music producer and political activist who fuses hip-hop with traditional local sounds and satire. His acclaimed Studio Abazon was fire-bombed in late 2015 in retaliation for his role in the ending of the 27-year tenure of former President Blaise Compaoré.
“Not everyone is lucky enough to have a microphone in front of them, so if you have the chance to talk, you have to say something important,” Smockey said.
