3 Jan 2025 | Iran, Israel, Middle East and North Africa, News and features, Syria, Turkey
Three days before the start of the battle to oust Bashar al-Assad, a Syrian political figure I trust for his insights and analysis called me. With my 18 years of experience in journalism, his words carried weight to me. “The Assad era is officially over in Syria,” he declared.
Wael al-Khalidi, the leading Syrian opposition figure, told me: “We will return to Syria. Be certain that the moment the revolutionaries enter Aleppo, they will advance to every Syrian city, and Assad will fall.”
Hearing such news, and thinking about reporting it to the world, was monumental for me. It was 11pm on 7 December when the Syrian revolutionaries began entering Damascus. Personally, I was physically exhausted from days of sleepless work covering the rebels’ advances against Assad’s regime, but their proximity to Damascus gave me renewed strength.
I will never forget the historic moment when I posted on Facebook at 1.30am on 8 December: “Al-Assad has fled, Syrians!” I believe I was the first to break this news, ahead of any major media outlet in the world.
At that moment, I remembered my father, who was killed by the Syrian regime in 2012 when an airstrike hit our home. My father was an elderly, unarmed man. Overwhelmed with emotion, I wept with joy as the dictator Bashar Al-Assad fell. These feelings are indescribable, known only to Syrians who have endured 54 years of suffering under this regime, deprived of the simplest rights and subjected to all forms of killing.
In Syria, journalism was limited to writing only about the leader’s achievements. Criticism was forbidden, and one had to be a member of the Ba’ath Party to speak about accomplishments of both the party and its leader.
When the Syrian revolution began, I worked as an editor for a magazine focused on entertainment news. Frequently meeting with Syrian artists, I found myself in a real predicament: how could we praise Bashar al-Assad while innocent blood was being shed in the streets? I decided to leave journalism and work at a local food restaurant. Later, I fled Damascus for my hometown, Idlib, where I resumed journalism, documenting the violations committed by the Syrian regime and other factions during that period.
Unfortunately, at the time, the jihadist group Jabhat Al-Nusra sought to impose its control on Idlib by force. My writings criticising them openly led to my imprisonment by them. Later, they demanded I leave the country, so I fled to Turkey and continued my journalistic work.
In Turkey, journalism was relatively safe until certain restrictions began to emerge. Suddenly, I was arrested, accused of producing reports critical of Iran’s actions in Syria, with allegations that Israel was funding me. My time in Turkish prison felt absurd to both me and my defence attorney: reporting news is not espionage. The charge was collaborating with Israel against Iran in Syria: a regrettable accusation. I emphasised during my trial that I viewed Iran, Hezbollah, the Assad regime, and Israel as criminals. Eventually, I was acquitted.
Today, Syria faces a challenging phase requiring the media to play its role as the voice of people long silenced under a one-sided dictatorial narrative. We need free, independent Syrian media that competes with major global outlets. It’s not impossible.
Sadly, even weeks after the fall of the Syrian regime, there is a noticeable absence of an official Syrian media outlet addressing the Syrian audience. The country faces media chaos, where outlets and social media influencers depict events irresponsibly and unethically.
Syria needs more workshops to train journalists on professional ethics and innovative approaches, breaking away from the norms imposed for decades.
I am planning to take a significant risk: returning to Syria to launch an independent media project. This initiative aims to amplify the voices of people, addressing their concerns and struggles through a team of young Syrian men and women who believe in a free, independent Syria that respects its neighbours and the global community.
It is a big gamble, and I am fully aware of the dangers of returning to my country after a decade of absence. But with the risks, I carry dreams of finally writing freely in a liberated homeland.
19 Dec 2024 | News and features, Newsletters
Hello, readers. This will be our final newsletter before Index wraps up for the holiday season. It’s been quite the year for freedom of expression, and whilst it’s not easy to summarise in one email, we’ve had a go. We’ve seen severe violations by repressive governments – but we’ve also seen remarkable acts of defiance by political activists, journalists and protesters.
These acts of defiance leave room for hope. In Russia, the year started with the suspicious death of Alexei Navalny whilst in detention, arguably Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critic (you can read an obituary by journalist John Sweeney here). But it was then punctuated with the release of opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza in a prisoner swap in August, after relentless campaigning led by his wife, Evgenia, who we ultimately awarded in this year’s Freedom of Expression Awards.
Another huge win for international protest was the release of Iranian political activist Toomaj Salehi in December, following his death sentence being overturned in June. Of course, there are many activists who remain behind bars and Index will continue to campaign for their release. Dozens of pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong – the Hong Kong 47 – were given harsh prison sentences of between four and 10 years in November, whilst prominent Chinese #MeToo activist (and previous Index award winner) Sophia Huang Xueqin was sentenced to five years in June. British-Egyptian political activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah was also denied freedom, even after serving his five-year jail term.
Throughout the year, we’ve seen media workers and independent reporting targeted in the most pernicious ways, including through targeted murder, particularly in war zones such as Gaza. Palestine has now become the most dangerous place to be a journalist, and you can read Al Jazeera English journalist Youmna El Sayed’s first-hand account on the risks of covering the conflict here. Meanwhile, media workers in Sudan face similar threats and persecution with seldom international attention, in what has been described as the “forgotten war”.
Alongside the brave pursuits of journalists, regular citizens have also stood up to their governments – with varying degrees of success. Alleged fraudulent elections in Georgia, Mozambique and Venezuela have caused the public to take to the streets in defiance of corruption. Whilst peaceful protests have resulted in violent crackdowns, there is cause for hope: a citizen-led democratic activism project in Venezuela was used to capture accurate voting tallies, and could prove to be a blueprint for fighting election fraud globally in the future, reported Martin Bright. And who could forget South Korea’s “no worries if not!” moment – when president Yoon Suk Yeol’s attempt at enforcing martial law was shut down within six hours thanks to mass assembly.
As we approach 2025, an uncertain future awaits. Repressive laws in Afghanistan have caused it to become the world’s most silenced nation, particularly for women, who under terrifying Taliban morality laws can no longer speak in public. Next year, will the international community stand up for women in the country and rally against what human rights groups are calling “gender apartheid”?
In the USA, a second Trump presidency could also bring with it a chilling impact on free expression, particularly for minority groups. You can read Emma Briant’s fascinating piece on the potential effect on university free thought in the “Land of Liberty” here. Meanwhile, the overthrowing of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s repressive regime means thousands of political dissidents have been liberated from the dictator’s inhumane prisons – but what could a future rebel-run regime really mean for the country’s freedoms?
We’ll be back in January. In the meantime, do make sure you read our latest magazine issue, Unsung Heroes: How musicians are raising their voices against oppression. If you’d like to subscribe, we have a special offer running until 3 January – you can enjoy 30% off an annual digital subscription by using the discount code Winter24 at checkout here, meaning it costs just £12.60.
Wishing you all a restful break, and hopefully a brighter 2025.
10 Dec 2024 | Afghanistan, Belarus, India, News and features, Palestine
Human Rights Day was formed on the anniversary of the founding of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a landmark document created at the UN General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948. The declaration enshrines in international law the human rights that all people are entitled to.
Despite the declaration, all around the world human rights are being challenged, degraded and attacked. That is why this year, on Human Rights Day, we pay tribute to five human rights defenders who have worked tirelessly to defend people’s rights and have been persecuted as a result.
Jemimah Steinfeld, CEO at Index on Censorship said:
“In this increasingly polarised and authoritarian world these people stand out as beacons of hope and light. It’s depressing to think that over 75 years since the Declaration, we still need a day like this but that should not detract from the bravery and fortitude of these people. May their example show us all how we can all better fight injustice.”
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Marfa Rabkova (Belarus)
Marfa Rabkova is a human rights defender who has been behind bars since 17 September 2020. She has long been targeted by the Belarusian authorities as a result of her civic activism.
Marfa became head of the volunteer service at the Human Rights Centre Viasna in 2019. During the 2020 presidential election, she joined the “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” campaign, which registered over 1,500 election observers. When peaceful protests began to take place after the election, she helped document evidence of torture and violence against demonstrators.
Marfa was indicted on a long list of charges, including inciting social hostility to the government and leading a criminal organisation. She was sentenced to 14 years and 9 months in prison in September 2022, after nearly two years of pre-trial detention.
Index on Censorship calls for her immediate and unconditional release.
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Diala Ayesh (Palestinian Territories)
Diala Ayesh is a Palestinian human rights defender and lawyer, who has advocated for the freedom and fair treatment of political prisoners. She has faced arrest, threats and harassment from both the Israeli occupation forces and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
On 17 January 2024, Israeli military forces arrested Ayesh as she passed through a military checkpoint in the West Bank. On 25 January, she was issued with a four-month administrative detention order by the Israeli military’s Central Command for the occupied West Bank. The military court upheld this order, extending it for another four months until 17 May. It was subsequently renewed for an additional four months. According to her lawyers, she was subjected to assault, threats, and insults by Israeli soldiers during her arrest. During the first week of her arrest, Ayesh was denied access to her lawyer and any phone calls. Her lawyer could only see her once on 23 January 2024. Since her arrest, her family has not heard from her, and they are not allowed to call or visit her.
Last month, Diala was awarded the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award for Campaigning.
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Matiullah Wesa (Afghanistan)
In 2009, Matiullah Wesa and Attaullah Wesa established Pen Path, an Afghan civil society organisation (CSO) working across Afghanistan to campaign for greater access to education for boys and girls in Afghanistan. In this role, they visited 34 provinces of the country and almost all districts. Pen Path’s first step was to re-open closed schools, after the Taliban had previously shut them down in remote villages of Afghanistan. Prior to the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, Pen Path acted as mediator between the government and the Taliban, while also encouraging local elders to collaborate with them to re-open those schools. Pen Path estimates that their team has re-opened more than 100 schools to date, and has established a number of new schools across the country.
On 27 March 2023, Matiullah Wesa was arbitrarily arrested by the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) while returning from evening prayer. The day after his arrest, the GDI raided his house and confiscated his personal mobile phone and laptop. On 29 March that year, the Taliban spokesperson confirmed his arrest, accusing him of illegal activities. His family were not allowed to visit him and there has been no avenue to challenge the legality of his detention.He was later released on 26 October 2023. Wesa remains in Afghanistan today, continuing Pen Path’s work in secret.
In 2023, Wesa won the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award for Campaigning.
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