A Kurdish artist imprisoned for her paintings of the destruction of a town in Turkey’s Kurdish region and a worldwide network monitoring threats and abuses against editorial cartoonists around the world are among the winners of the 2019 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards.
CATEGORY: Africa
Podcast: Is there a global crisis for local newspapers?
Spring podcast with Karoline Kan, Ian Murray and Sinead Corr exploring the future of local news.
Jodie Ginsberg on Uganda trying to censor its musicians and filmmakers (The World Tonight, BBC World Service, 26 February 2019)
Uganda’s government is proposing regulations that will affect all artists in the country. These include vetting new songs, videos and film...
Uganda: Artists should not have to seek government approval to make their art
More than 130 musicians, writers and artists, together with many British and Ugandan members of parliament, have signed a petition calling on Uganda to drop plans for regulations that include vetting songs, videos and film scripts prior to their release. Musicians, producers, promoters, filmmakers and all other artists would also have to register with the government and obtain a licence that can be revoked for a range of violations.
Ability to protest peacefully is a hallmark of a functioning democracy
Index on Censorship is alarmed by the increasing number of restrictions being placed on protests globally
Habari RDC: The only thing certain about the upcoming Congolese election is uncertainty
The Democratic Republic of Congo will go to the polls on 23 December to elect a successor to incumbent president Joseph Kabila, who has been in power since January 2001 when he inherited the position from his assassinated father
Ramón Nse Esono Ebale: Drawing to create change in Equatorial Guinea
Ramón Nse Esono Ebale draws out of a desire to create a world that is different from the one he can see with his eyes. It was that desire that led to his arrest and detention in September 2017.
Project Exile: Zimbabwean broadcaster grapples with post-Mugabe era
“The question is now, under the change of government, would I be welcome? I’m still being outspoken about what I think.”
Smockey: Burkinabe rapper and activist on European tour despite years of censorship
On 3 March in Belfort, France, Burkinabe rapper and activist Smockey began a two-month long European tour, despite having his studio destroyed twice in recent years
Charges dropped against cartoonist Ramón Esono Ebalé
Index on Censorship welcomes the news that charges against cartoonist Nsé Ramón Esono Ebalé have been dropped.
Freedom of expression in Africa. Index on Censorship covers free speech, freedom of religion, artistic freedom on the continent of Africa.