The Index on Censorship /TR Fyvel Book Award
In the late 1990s French Journalist Jean Hatzfeld visited two Rwandan villages and interviewed fourteen survivors of the 1994 massacre. In 2000 Hatzfeld returned to interview ten men who were later put on trial and convicted for their part in the genocide. The findings of the interviews were published in the two books Into The Quick of Life: The Rwandan Genocide: The Survivors Speak and A Time for Machetes: The Killers Speak.
The Index on Censorship Film Award
Turtles Can Fly by Bahman Ghobadi is a thought-provoking film about two refugees in the region of Kurdistan, whose bodies and souls have been irreparably damaged by Saddam Hussein’s brutal legacy.
The Index on Censorship/Hugo Young Award For Journalism
Sihem Bensedrine is editor of the banned and now secretly published (online) magazine Kalima. Throughout her career she has been harassed and intimidated by officials for highlighting Tunisia’s lack of freedom of expression and was once briefly imprisoned for discussing corruption in an interview for a London-based TV station. On 15 October 2008 the web content of the newspaper was totally destroyed by an attack.
The Index on Censorship Law Award
Beatrice Mtetwa is a prominent media and human rights lawyer who works to defend and protect journalists in Zimbabwe who have been detained and harassed, regardless of regular threats to her personal safety. She has won acquittals for dozens of journalists arrested under Zimbabwe’s repressive media laws.
The Index on Censorship Whistleblower Award
Huang Jingao, a local Communist Party official, generated a national sensation in August 2004 by posting an open letter on a party website. Therein he complained that his efforts to investigate and prosecute corruption were thwarted by high-level party and governmental officials. In 2005, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.