10 Mar 2023 | Ruth's blog
Wednesday marked International Women’s Day, an opportunity to reflect upon the role of women in society. In the midst of a war in Europe and global economic crisis it is easy to focus on the immediate, on the current existential crisis, but there is an onus on us to remember what is happening further afield.
On Wednesday for International Women’s Day I addressed students on behalf of the Anne Frank Trust. I highlighted the importance of not only telling women’s stories but also the power of amplifying their lived experiences, wherever they may be. Collectively we all made a promise that this week – and I hope in future weeks – we would seek to tell the stories of the women who have made a mark and ensure that the world knows their names.
I seek to deliver on that promise.
I am proud to be the Chief Executive of Index on Censorship, a charity which endeavours to provide a voice to the persecuted, which campaigns for freedom of expression around the world. I work daily with dissidents who risk everything to change their societies and their communities for the better. Men and women. But today I would like to highlight the names of some of those women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the last year for the supposed “crime” of doing something we take for granted every day – using the human right of freedom of expression.
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Deborah Samuel – a student brutally murdered in Nigeria after being accused of blasphemy on an academic social media platform.
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Nokuthula Mabaso – a leading woman human rights defender in South Africa and leader of the eKhenana Commune. She was assassinated outside of her home, in front of her children.
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Shireen Abu Akleh – a veteran Palestinian-American correspondent for Al Jazeera who was killed while reporting on an Israeli raid in the West Bank.
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Jhannah Villegas – a local journalist in the Philippines was killed at her home. The police believe this was linked to her work.
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Francisca Sandoval – a local Chilean journalist was murdered, and several others hurt when gunmen opened fire on a Workers’ Day demonstration.
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Mahsa Amini – a name all too familiar to us, as her murder inspired a peaceful revolution which continues to this day. Murdered by the Iranian morality police for “inappropriate attire”.
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Oksana Baulina – a Russian journalist killed during shelling by Russian forces in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
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Oksana Haidar – a 54-year-old Ukrainian journalist and blogger better known under the pseudonym “Ruda Pani”, killed by Russian artillery, northeast of Kyiv.
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Oleksandra Kuvshynova – a Ukrainian producer who was killed outside of Kyiv, while working with Fox News.
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Petronella Baloyi – a South African land and women human rights defender gunned down while in her home.
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Yessenia Mollinedo Falconi, a Mexican journalist who was the founder and editor of El Veraz. A crime and security correspondent, she received a death threat a fortnight before she was shot. She was killed alongside her colleague Sheila Johana García Olivera
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Vira Hyrych – a journalist for Radio Free Europe’s Ukrainian service, killed by Russian shelling.
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Yeimi Chocué Camayo – an Indigenous women’s rights activist, killed in Columbia when returning to her house.
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Cielo Rujeles – wife of social leader Sócrates Sevillano, shot and killed alongside her husband in Colombia.
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Luz Angelina Quijano Poveda – a delegate of the Community Action Board in Punta Betín, Colombia, murdered at her home.
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Sandra Patricia Montenegro – a PE teacher and social leader was shot and killed in front of her students in Colombia.
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Melissa Núñez – a transgender activist shot dead by armed men in Honduras.
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María del Carmen Vázquez – a Mexican activist and member of the Missing Persons of Pénjamo, murdered by two men at her home in. She was looking for her son who disappeared last summer.
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Blanca Esmeralda Gallardo – activist and member of the Collective Voice of the Missing in Puebla, who was assassinated on the side of the highway in Mexico as she waited for a bus to take her to work. She was searching for her 22-year-old daughter who vanished in 2021.
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Yermy Chocue Camayo – treasurer of the Chimborazo indigenous reservation in Colombia, and human rights defender, killed as she headed home.
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Dilia Contreras – an experienced presenter for RCN Radio in Columbia, shot dead in a car alongside her colleague Leiner Montero after covering a festival in a local village.
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Edilsan Andrade – a Colombian social leader and local politician, shot and killed in the presence of one of her children.
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Jesusita Moreno, aka Doña Tuta – a human rights activist who defended Afro-Colombian community rights. Facing threats against her life, she was assassinated whilst at her son’s birthday party.
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Maria Piedad Aguirre – a Colombian social leader who was a defender of black communities, violently murdered with a machete; she was found at home by one of her grandchildren.
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Elizabeth Mendoza – social leader, was shot and killed in her home in Colombia. Her husband, son and nephew were also murdered.
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María José Arciniegas Salinas – a Colombian indigenous human rights defender, assassinated by armed men who said they belonged to the Comandos de la Frontera group.
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Shaina Vanessa Pretel Gómez – who was known among the LGBTIQ+ community for her activism, including work to establish safe spaces for homeless people and a passion for the arts, was shot dead early in the morning by a suspect on a motorbike.
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Rosa Elena Celix Guañarita – a Colombian human rights defender was shot while socialising with friends.
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Mariela Reyes Montenegro – a leader of the Union of Workers and Employees of Public Services was murdered in Colombia.
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Alba Bermeo Puin – an indigenous leader and environmental defender in Ecuador was murdered when five months pregnant.
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Mursal Nabizada – a former female member of Afghanistan’s parliament and women’s rights campaigner murdered at her home.
This is not an exhaustive list by any stretch of the imagination. Compiling the names and profiles of women who have been killed as a result of their right to exercise freedom of expression is almost impossible, not least because of the nature of the repressive regimes which too many people live under. But every name represents thousands of others who day in, day out put their lives at risk to speak truth to power. They were mothers, grandmothers, daughters, nieces, granddaughters, sisters, aunts, friends, partners, wives.
To their families, they were the centre of the world. To us, today, their stories bring fear and inspiration in equal measure. They are heroes whose bravery we should all seek to emulate.
4 Mar 2023 | News and features, Statements
The Rt Hon Suella Braverman KC MP, Home Secretary
The Home Office
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
United Kingdom (Sent via Email)
Dear Home Secretary,
As a group of leading press freedom, journalist support and free expression organisations, we want to highlight the dire circumstances faced by Afghan journalists, media workers and writers. As the situation in-country deteriorates, journalists, especially women and those from marginalised backgrounds such as ethnic Hazaras, find themselves at heightened risk of retaliation. As a result, it is vital that the UK Government honours its pledges to those at-risk through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).
We have received a number of requests of support from Afghan journalists based either in-country or other countries, such as Pakistan and Iran. Many of them are at heightened risk from the Taliban due to their profession and so are reaching out for urgent support and relocation. However, without clarification on progress for ACRS, there is little if any support that can be provided and this leaves the journalists vulnerable to threats of disappearance, violence, arrest, imprisonment and assassination. The experiences of the eight Afghan journalists, who have worked for the BBC and other agencies who have recently had their visa applications reopened after a legal action against the UK Government demonstrates the urgency needed to protect journalists who remain in Afghanistan.
The Government has stated that Pathway Three of the ACRS would reopen a year after the scheme’s commencement to enable the Government to “work with international partners and NGOs (non-governmental organisations) to welcome wider groups of Afghans at risk.” Of the groups prioritised in the scheme, the Government has highlighted those who have “stood up for values such as democracy … freedom of speech, and rule of law”, which surely captures Afghan journalists who have risked their lives reporting in the public interest. However, the year mark has passed, with Pathway Three still closed for applications with no information forthcoming as to when it will reopen. This lack of clarity breeds uncertainty for those at risk and must be urgently addressed by the Home Office and other relevant departments.
This lack of clarity also extends to those who are based in other countries, such as Pakistan and Iran. The Afghanistan Journalists’ Support Organization reported on 3 February that a number of Afghan journalists had been arrested in Islamabad. According to the report, phones, laptops, cameras, and other electronic and personal devices of journalists have been seized and inspected. Those arrested have passports and visas and are legally residing in Pakistan. They were later released but one Afghan journalist said that the behaviour of the Pakistani police towards those fleeing the Taliban was “insulting and wrong”. This follows earlier reports that Pakistani authorities have deported 600 Afghans, including women and children from Pakistan.
As well as arrest, journalists fleeing Afghanistan to Pakistan face other problems. One female journalist, who is currently in Pakistan after being forced to leave Afghanistan for fear of retribution by the Taliban, has shared her shocking story with Index on Censorship.
To this end, the undersigned organisations would like to request information on:
● Specific details about Pathway 3 of the ACRS including –
- When will it reopen;
- How long it will remain open for;
- How many spaces will be available for at-risk Afghans;
- The eligibility criteria for inclusion, including the current location of the individual in need;
- Any support for direct and extended family members;
- How partners and NGOs can support the process to identify, vet and refer potential applicants;
● Any specific considerations the UK Government has made to respond to the needs and threats facing at-risk Afghan journalists;
● Whether, through the FCDO, the UK Government has engaged with Pakistani authorities to ensure all Afghan journalists are protected from threats of deportation or other acts that could endanger their safety.
As a group of organisations who have a track record supporting and protecting journalists, writers, media workers and outlets at risk across the globe, we stand ready to support where we can, whether through coordination with key partners or verifying and sourcing requests for support. However this cannot be done without meaningful commitments and leadership from the UK Government through the ACRS.
We would welcome any information about Pathway Three of the ACRS to ensure we can offer meaningful support to at-risk Afghan journalists. We would also welcome the opportunity to meet you or one of your team to brief you directly.
We await your response.
Kind regards,
Martin Bright, Editor at Large, Index on Censorship
Michelle Stanistreet, General Secretary, National Union of Journalists
Ross Holder, Head of Asia/Pacific Region, PEN International
Dalia Nasreddin, UK Campaigns Manager, English PEN
Copied to:
The Rt Hon James Cleverly MP, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State (Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and United Nations)
Sir John Whittingdale MP, Chair of the Press Freedom APPG
Mark Logan MP, Chair of the Afghanistan APPG
14 Jan 2023 | News and features, Saudi Arabia
This Sunday, followers of our social media feeds will note that we are only posting about a single subject – the University of Leeds PhD student Salma al-Shehab. Salma is currently serving a 34-year jail sentence in her native Saudi Arabia simply for tweeting her support for prisoners of conscience in the country and calling for better women’s rights. Following the jail sentence, Salma will also be prevented from travel for another 34 years.
Salma, who was studying for a PhD in oral and human health, was arrested on 15 January 2021 after going back to Saudi Arabia to spend the holiday with her husband and two children, Adam and Noah. It is understood she was planning to return to the UK with her family.
Salma was questioned for almost a year before being charged by the Specialised Criminal Court under various parts of the country’s Counter-Terrorism Law and the Anti-Cybercrime Law for “supporting those seeking to disrupt public order, undermining the safety of the general public and stability of the state, and publishing false and tendentious rumours on Twitter”.
She was initially handed a six-year sentence last year but on appeal this was increased to 34 years, including a discretionary five years added by the judge. She has also been slapped with a travel ban for a further 34 years following her sentence.
The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GC4HR) says the sentence is the longest ever given to a peaceful activist.
Index on Censorship is working with ALQST for Human Rights to re-focus international attention on Salma’s case.
In September, ALQST sent an open letter signed by NGOs and 400 academics to then-prime minister Liz Truss and foreign secretary James Cleverly to raise awareness of this inhumane sentence. Index on Censorship sent a further letter to the UK Foreign Secretary signed by other human rights organisations in October 2022.
Salma was arrested and sentenced for standing in solidarity with imprisoned human rights defenders, such as Loujain al-Hathloul. Now we must stand in solidarity with her. This Sunday, 15 January, marks the two-year anniversary of her arrest. On that day, the two organisations will initiate a Twitter storm. There are two ways to take part.
The first is to tweet the following from your own account, attaching the campaign graphic here.
Salma al-Shehab was sentenced to 34 years in prison for tweeting in support of women human rights defenders in #SaudiArabia. Two years on from her arrest we stand in solidarity with her and demand her release #FreeSalma. Join the campaign >> https://www.indexoncensorship.org/freesalma
The second is to quote-tweet Salma’s texts. It is our belief that what she published in her posts does not constitute a crime and we encourage you to post her original words along with a quote tweet to stand in solidarity with her.
To quote-tweet, click on the tweet link in the table below, click on the retweet button and choose to do a quote-tweet. You can use our suggested covering text from the table below or use your own. Please remember to include the hashtag #FreeSalma.
Remember that we are running this campaign on Sunday 15 January. It is possible to schedule your quote tweet by clicking the calendar icon in Twitter. Thank you for your support in this important campaign.
Salma’s original tweet |
Suggested quote tweet |
https://twitter.com/I_Salma1988/status/1338583282892632064?s=20&t=MLVHBwVwpHUBtNiHdLfVhg
Translation : #Free_Loujain_Alhathloul
Context: Salma quote-tweeted a tweet supporting Saudi human rights defender Loujain Alhathloul |
Salma al-Shehab was arrested two years ago today for tweeting her support for prisoners of conscience including Loujain al-Hathloul. I believe no crime has been committed and I call on #SaudiArabia to release her without delay #FreeSalma |
https://twitter.com/I_Salma1988/status/1343717831435825156?s=20&t=MLVHBwVwpHUBtNiHdLfVhg
Translation: Godmothers of the 6th of November 1990: Aziza Al-Youssef, Hessa Al-Sheikh, Aisha Al-Manea. Manal al-Sharif, leader of the “I will drive my own car” movement. All Saudi women prisoners of conscience – or those who have been previously arrested – the free, virtuous women: Loujain Al-Hathloul, Nassima Al-Sada, Iman Al-Nafjan, Mia Al-Zahrani, Nof Abdulaziz, Hatoon Al-Fassi, Samar Badawi.
Context: Salma quote-tweeted a feminist account in which they ask people to name respected women rights activists. Salma tweeted the names of some of those who flouted the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia. |
Salma al-Shehab was sentenced to 34 years in prison for tweeting in support of the 47 women of the 6 Nov 1990 driving ban protest in #SaudiArabia. Two years on from her arrest I stand in solidarity with her and demand her release #FreeSalma |
https://twitter.com/I_Salma1988/status/1313923423547121666
Translation: Yes, it is true, all feminist movements throughout history are offensive movements. Not for subtraction and not for argument. All feminist movements are aimed at extracting stolen female rights and destroying the patriarchal system. And whoever stands in front of it to reject or disrupt is called the masculine or the misogynistic. All of your words are correct, the difference is that we don’t see anything wrong with it. |
In these words, #SaudiArabia sees a crime. I do not, I see someone standing up for basic human rights. Salma al-Shehab was arrested two years ago today and should be released immediately #FreeSalma |
https://twitter.com/I_Salma1988/status/1282458576984973312
Translation: Human rights constitute a single concept, and cannot be distinguished as Islamic or non-Islamic rights; accepting and adopting this distinction in the name of cultural relativity means annihilating these rights.” – Sherine Ebadi [Iranian lawyer and activist] |
In these words, #SaudiArabia sees a crime. I do not, I see someone standing up for basic human rights for women. Salma al-Shehab was arrested two years ago today and should be released immediately #FreeSalma |
https://twitter.com/I_Salma1988/status/1079767746324385794
Translation: Thank you, Lord, for a beautiful year. O Lord, may this year be better, and may it bring good news to all prisoners of conscience. Lord bring them safely close to their beloved ones. |
In 2018, Salma al-Shehab tweeted to wish the families of imprisoned women human rights defenders joy and safety. Now she is imprisoned for speaking out I wish her the same and call for her release #FreeSalma |
6 Jan 2023 | Afghanistan, Belarus, China, Iran, Mexico, Russia, Ruth's blog, South Sudan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States
Happy New Year!
I think we can all agree, regardless of where we live, that 2022 was a tumultuous year. There was seemingly a new crisis every day. Totalitarian regimes moving against their populations became increasingly normal, from Iran to China. The ongoing rise (and occasional fall) of populist politics. The Russian invasion of Ukraine. The rise of energy and food costs and the impact on some of the world’s poorest. The attempted murder of Sir Salman Rushdie. And to be parochial just for a moment, complete political insanity in the UK.
I really hoped that 2023 would mark the end, or at least a pause, of that wonderful Chinese saying – we live in interesting times. Even for just a few months I had dreamed of a period of calm, of quiet, of dullness. Or at least a few weeks so we could all catch up on life and enjoy the world we live in, rather than being anxious at turning on the news.
It is only the sixth day of the year and my wish for calm has already been broken. This week we have seen political dysfunction in the USA; Belarus has commenced trials against many of their high-profile detainees who were arrested during the demonstrations against Lukashenka; there have been deadly riots in Mexico and the news is filled with the gloom of Covid (and China’s censoring of news on it), flu and inflation. It’s day six…
We knew that this year would see significant world events, as the impact of the war in Ukraine continues to be felt. But China is also likely to seek to exploit this global diplomatic distraction for their own nefarious wants. And of course the protests in Iran, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Mexico continue apace – even as they evolve.
Index will remain busy in the months ahead as we seek to shine a spotlight on the actions of totalitarian regimes and make sure that you hear from the people behind the headlines. From the women now banned from attending university in Afghanistan, from the democracy activists imprisoned in Belarus, from the Rohingya mothers held in camps as they flee Myanmar, from the journalists who fight to be heard and stay alive in Mexico. Index will keep providing a platform for the persecuted, so they can tell their stories and you can hear them.
Happy New Year in these interesting times.