13 Apr 16 | mobile
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.
09 Feb 16 | About Index, Awards, Events, mobile, Press Releases
An Aleppo-based journalist training women to report on the crisis in war-torn Syria, an Indonesian comic who jokes about Islamic extremism and a 19-year-old campaigner against repression in Eritrea are among those shortlisted for the 2016 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards.
Drawn from more than 400 crowdsourced nominations, the Index awards shortlist celebrates artists, writers, journalists and campaigners tackling censorship and fighting for freedom of expression. Many of the 20 shortlisted nominees are regularly targeted by authorities or by criminal and extremist groups for their work: some face regular death threats, others criminal prosecution.
Judges for this year’s awards are Nobel Prize-winning author Wole Soyinka, pianist James Rhodes, tech entrepreneur Bindi Karia, Colombian journalist Maria Teresa Ronderos, human rights lawyer Kirsty Brimelow QC and Bahraini campaigner Nabeel Rajab.
“Censorship is not something that happens ‘somewhere else’,” said Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of Index on Censorship. “It occurs on a daily basis in every country, in every part of the world. The shortlist honours those who are among the bravest and most creative in tackling such threats.”
Awards are offered in four categories: journalism; arts; campaigning; and digital activism.
Nominees include Good Chance Theatre who work in the infamous “Jungle” refugee camp in Calais, France; imprisoned Bahraini academic and blogger Dr Abduljalil Al-Singace, who has continued to protest in prison despite being subjected to torture and abuse for daring to speak out on human rights abuses in his country; GreatFire, an anonymous group that battles China’s severe web censorship; and Pravit Rojanaphruk, a veteran reporter who was arrested, interrogated and forced out of his job for criticising Thailand’s military government.
Other nominees include Zaina Erhaim, who returned to her native Syria to report on the conflict and train women to tell unreported stories; Sakdiyah Ma’ruf, a female Muslim stand-up comedian from Indonesia; and campaigner Nkosilathi Emmanuel Moyo, a Zimbabwean who fights corruption in his country, currently in hiding after sending Robert Mugabe a prison uniform for his 92nd birthday this month.
Winners, who will be announced at a gala ceremony in London on 13 April, become Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards Fellows and are given support for their work.
“How do you fight for free expression beyond a moment? How do you keep it alive? You must remember how stressful it is for people on the ground. This fellowship, following us for a year, it is a good idea,” said Rafael Marques de Morais, Freedom of Expression Award winner for Journalism in 2015.
Notes for editors:
- Index on Censorship is a UK-based non-profit organisation that publishes work by censored writers and artists and campaigns against censorship worldwide.
- More detail about each of the nominees is included below.
- The winners will be announced at a ceremony at The Unicorn Theatre, London, on 13 April.
For more information, or to arrange interviews with any of those shortlisted, please contact: David Heinemann on 0207 260 2660. More biographical information and photos of the nominees are available at awards.indexoncensorship.org
Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards nominees 2016
Arts
Belarus Free Theatre and The Ministry of Counterculture (UK/Belarus)
Ten-year-old Belarus Free Theatre has been using their creative and subversive art to protest the dictatorial rule of Aleksandr Lukashenko for a decade
Tania Bruguera (Cuba)
American-Cuban artist Tania Bruguera, who uses art to campaign for greater openness in Cuban society, was arrested after attempting to stage her play #YoTambienExijo at a festival in Havana. It is now a global movement
Good Chance Theatre (UK)
Good Chance works in the infamous Jungle refugee camp in Calais, France, to provide a space for refugees to express themselves
Sakdiyah Ma’ruf (Indonesia)
Sakdiyah Ma’ruf is a female Muslim stand-up comedian from Indonesia who challenges Islamic fundamentalism and advocates for women’s rights
Murad Subay (Yemen)
Artist Murad Subay uses his country’s streets as a canvas to protest Yemen’s war, institutionalised corruption and forced “disappearings”
Campaigning
Abduljalil Al-Singace (Bahrain)
Dr. Abduljalil Al- Singace is an imprisoned Bahraini human rights activist, academic and blogger who has not let prison stop him from calling attention to his country’s human rights practices
Vanessa Berhe (US)
University student Vanessa Berhe is fighting for the release of her uncle, Eritrean journalist Seyoum Tsehaye, and for freedom of expression in Eritrea, one of the world’s worst most censored countries
Bolo Bhi (Pakistan)
A women-lead digital rights campaigning group who have orchestrated an impressive effort to turn back the Pakistani government’s draconian attempt to censor the internet
Nkosilathi Emmanuel Moyo (Zimbabwe)
Prolific author and activist Nkosilathi Emmanuel Moyo campaigned against political corruption and worked with young people to foster human rights
Pu Zhiqiang (China)
A human rights lawyer who represented Ai Weiwei, Pu Zhiqiang has been targeted by China’s authorities for his unwavering support of free speech
Digital Advocacy
Dokuz8 Haber and Gökhan Biçici (Turkey)
Journalist Gökhan Biçici launched citizen news agency Dokuz8Haber to foster uncensored information and strengthen Turkish democracy, circumventing intense press censorship
GreatFire (China)
GreatFire campaigns for transparency of Chinese censorship by providing numerous effective circumvention tools to the “Great Firewall”
Love Matters (international)
An international platform dedicated to opening up conversation about sexual health in countries where such subjects are censored or taboo
Mexicoleaks (Mexico)
An anonymous news-sharing platform seeking to bring more transparency to Mexico’s society by uncovering corruption
Hebib Muntezir (Azerbaijan)
An exiled Azerbaijani activist and blogger, who works with Meydan TV, mobilising social media to get uncensored news to a surprising number of his fellow citizens
Journalism
Zaina Erhaim (Syria)
One of the few female journalists still reporting from Syria, Zaina Erhaim of Aleppo works to train women to tell the story of the war-ravaged country
Mada Masr (Egypt)
Mada Masr is an independent news cooperative launched to offer an alternative narrative to government-controlled media
Hamid Mir (Pakistan)
Hamid Mir, a television journalist whose 30-year-career has been punctuated by threats, physical assaults, abductions and assassination attempts for taking on unchallenged powers in Pakistan
Pravit Rojanaphruk (Thailand)
Pravit Rojanaphruk is a veteran reporter who was arrested, interrogated and forced to resign for speaking out against Thailand’s lèse majesté law and military government
Ferit Tunç (Turkey)
Ferit Tunç is a Kurdish journalist who set up an independent newspaper in eastern Turkey and used inventive methods including publishing recipes with hidden messages to challenge censorship of his reporting on corruption
