23 Apr 2018 | Press Releases
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).
From right: Human rights defenders Mohamed Sameh and Ahmad Abdallah of 2018 Freedom of Expression Campaigning Award-winning Egypt Commission on Rights and Freedoms; 2018 Freedom of Expression Journalism Award-winning Honduran investigative journalist Wendy Funes; Congolese digital activist Guy Muyembe of 2018 Freedom of Expression Digital Activism Award-winning Habari RDC; 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)
“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, comedian Shazia Mirza, social human rights activists Nimco Ali and Sara Khan, Serpentine Galleries CEO Yana Peel, poet Sabrina Mahfouz, Channel 4’s Lindsey Hilsum 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.”
Further details about the award winners are below.
For interviews with the award winners, who are in London until Friday 20 April, please contact Sean Gallagher at [email protected].
Photographs and other content related to the awards night will be available beginning 11am on Friday 20 April. Please contact Sean Gallagher at [email protected].
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.
Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards 2018 – background on winners
Arts – The Museum of Dissidence (Cuba)
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)
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.
CEO of Serpentine Galleries and 2018 Freedom of Expression Award judge Yana Peel said: The Museum of Dissidence in Cuba is incredibly important for the safe space that it is providing for unsafe ideas. It is a tremendous platform through which the great artists of Cuba bring Cuba to the global stage.”
Profile
Campaigning – The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (Egypt). Award supported by Doughty Street Chambers
Human rights defenders Mohamed Sameh and Ahmad Abdallah of 2018 Freedom of Expression Campaigning Award-winning Egypt Commission on Rights and Freedoms. (Photo: Index on Censorship)
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.
CEO of Raspberry Pi and Freedom of Expression Awards 2018 judge Eben Upton said: “In an environment when organisations have had to step back or disappear altogether, they’ve managed to keep going and just that persistence over a period of time in a difficult environment is inspiring”.
Profile
Digital Activism – Habari RDC (Congo). Award sponsored by Private Internet Access
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.
Journalist and 2018 Freedom of Expression Awards judge Razia Iqbal aid: “They’re doing something which is actually very hard to do, which is make sure that the future generation know what’s happening in their own country, are willing to speak to each other about it and be active politically”.
Profile
Journalism – Wendy Funes (Honduras). Award sponsored by VICE News
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 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.
Journalist and 2018 Freedom of Expression Awards judge Razia Iqbal QC said: “She is courageous in the face of death threats. She is courageous in the face of censorship. She is courageous just in terms of getting up every morning and saying I’m going to continue to do what I am doing.”
Profile
ABOUT THE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIP
The Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards recognise those individuals and groups making the greatest impact in tackling censorship worldwide. Established 18 years ago, the awards shine a light on work being undertaken in defence of free expression globally. Often these stories go unnoticed or are ignored by the mainstream press. 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.
ABOUT INDEX ON CENSORSHIP
Index on Censorship is a UK-based nonprofit that campaigns against censorship and promotes free expression worldwide. Founded in 1972, Index has published some of the world’s leading writers and artists in its award-winning quarterly magazine, including Nadine Gordimer, Mario Vargas Llosa, Samuel Beckett and Kurt Vonnegut. Index promotes debate, monitors threats to free speech and supports individuals through its annual awards and fellowship program.
19 Apr 2018 | 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
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[/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]
22 Mar 2018 | Awards, Fellowship 2018, News and features
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/WzJkJikmYe8″][vc_column_text]Abbad Yahya is a 29-year-old Palestinian novelist whose fourth novel Crime in Ramallah was banned by the Palestinian authority in the West Bank in 2017. The novel includes depictions of gay sex, as well as political commentary about fanaticism and religious extremism — subjects largely considered taboo in the region. All copies of the book were confiscated by the attorney general in February this year, on the grounds it contained texts that threatened public decency.
When the controversy arose, Yahya was abroad in Qatar. He was so afraid for his life that he did not to go back to his native Ramallah and spent time in other countries in the Middle East and Europe. Threats were issued to him and his family via social media and copies of the book burnt on the Gaza strip. The Public Prosecutor issued a summons for questioning against Yahya and detained the distributor of the novel.
Despite this, Yahya has spent the last year giving interviews to the international and Arab press and raising awareness of freedom of expression and the lives of young people in the West Bank and Gaza, particularly in relation to their sexuality.
“In my point of view, the most important impact of all of this, was raising the awareness amongst the youth and their decisions that are related to their sexual lives, as well as making a public discussion about the issue,” says Yahya.
Crime in Ramallah follows the lives of three young Palestinian men and the different ways they cope with living in the claustrophobic society of Ramallah. The passage in the novel most cited as causing outrage is when one of the characters sees a picture of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat with a gun and imagines it as a penis.
The novel was criticised by some of Yahya’s own colleagues. According to AP, the head of the Palestinian Writers Union, Murad Sudani, said it was a: “silly novel that violates the national and religious values of the society in order to appease the West and win prizes.”
“The job of the writer in our occupied country is to raise the hope and enlighten people — not to break the national and religious symbols,” Sudani added. “My freedom as a writer ends when the freedom of the country begins.”
But Yahya does not agree. “Censors proclaim themselves to be the representatives of the public and their opinion, while present us as an obscure minority, insignificant in its voice and influence,” Yahya tells Index on Censorship. “This nomination proves the exact opposite, as it comes as a recognition of what we do and the things we stand for, and a proof that our voice is indeed heard. Freedom is contagious, and being one of the nominees strengthens my unshakable conviction in the ideals of freedom and freedom of expression.
See the full shortlist for Index on Censorship’s Freedom of Expression Awards 2018 here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content” equal_height=”yes” el_class=”text_white” css=”.vc_custom_1490258749071{background-color: #cb3000 !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_custom_heading text=”Support the Index Fellowship.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:28|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2Fsupport-the-freedom-of-expression-awards%2F|||”][vc_column_text]
By donating to the Freedom of Expression Awards you help us support
individuals and groups at the forefront of tackling censorship.
Find out more
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1 Feb 2018 | Campaigns -- Featured, Statements, Tunisia
The undersigned regional and international NGOs join Tunisian organisations in their demands that the government immediately withdraw a draft law on the broadcasting regulator which fails to meet international standards on freedom of expression and independent broadcasting in democratic countries.
As part of the important process of harmonising Tunisian legislation with the 2014 Constitution, a draft law was submitted to the Assembly of People’s Representatives in December 2017 and it is currently under review by the parliamentary Commission of Rights and Freedoms. The draft law would partly replace the existing legislation in this area -Decree-Law No. 116-2011, on the Freedom of Broadcasting Communication and the creation of the Higher Independent Audio-Visual Communication Authority (HAICA) – with new legislation solely establishing a new broadcasting regulator, the Audio-Visual Commission.
The draft law and associated reforms have already been criticised by civil society, as the bill was prepared by the Tunisian government without substantial prior dialogue with local human rights and professional groups.
In June and again in December 2017, Tunisian and international human rights and professional groups wrote open letters to President Beji Caid Essebsi, Parliament Speaker Mohamed Ennacer and Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, expressing their deep concern about the draft law, its “unsatisfactory wording”, the “dangerous restrictions” of the prerogatives of the broadcasting regulator it would create, and the “deficiencies in the safeguards guaranteeing” its independence. They also explained that fragmenting of the legal framework “would open the door to ambiguity, conflict and limitation of the freedom of audiovisual communication and the independence of the regulatory body.” There has been no response.
Two legal analyses of the draft Law were made public in Tunis in early January 2018 by Vigilance for Democracy and the Civic State (VDCS) and by ARTICLE 19, which concluded that the draft law did not comply with applicable international standards.
We, the undersigned, call on the Tunisian government to immediately withdraw its draft law and initiate a constructive dialogue with relevant civil society and professional groups, independent media experts, and members of parliament. Such a dialogue would help pave the way for the adoption of a comprehensive audiovisual law, in line with the 2014 Constitution and international standards.
Signed,
Vigilance for Democracy and the Civic State
7amleh – Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media
Adil Soz – International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech
Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC)
Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC)
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)
ARTICLE 19
Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE)
Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS)
Bahrain Center for Human Rights
Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI)
Center for Independent Journalism – Romania
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR)
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Digital Rights Foundation
Foro de Periodismo Argentino
Foundation for Press Freedom – FLIP
Freedom Forum
I’lam Arab Center for Media Freedom Development and Research
Independent Journalism Center – Moldova
Index on Censorship
Maharat Foundation
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
Media Watch
National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ)
Pacific Islands News Association
Pakistan Press Foundation
Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA)
Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)
Trinidad and Tobago’s Publishers and Broadcasters Association
World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC)
World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers
Arab Society for Academic Freedoms
Association Ifouki Media Bladi (IBM), Morocco
Community Media Solutions (CMSO)
Community Radios Association (ARAM), Morocco
Euromed Rights
Center for Media Freedom (CMF), Morocco
Organization for Freedom of Expression and of the Media (OLIE), Morocco
Forum for alternatives in Morocco (FEMAS)
Freedom Now, Morocco
International Media Support (IMS)
Lawyers for Justice in Libya
Libya Al-Mostakbal Center for Media and Culture
Libyan Center for Press freedom (LCPF)
Moroccan Association for Investigative Journalism (AMJI)
