26 Sep 18 | Awards, Fellowship, Fellowship 2018, News and features, Press Releases
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/-UpVto-2Sf0″][vc_column_text]The UK has refused visas for a second time to two award-winning Cuban artists who had been invited to take up a two-week artistic residency.
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Yanelys Nuñez Leyva, winners of this year’s Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards for Arts, had also been due to collect their award. They had been scheduled to receive their honour in April at the Index award ceremony in London but were denied visas to attend.
“We had hoped that – having been recognised with this award, and given the fact Luis Manuel and Yanelys have been granted visas to Argentina, Chile, the Czech Republic, and the United States this year – the UK government would give them the opportunity to visit the UK,” said Index on Censorship Fellowships and Advocacy Officer Perla Hinojosa.
Alcántara and Nunez are founders of The Museum of Dissidence, a public art project and website celebrating dissent in Cuba. Set up in 2016, the museum organises radical public art projects and installations, concentrated in the poorer districts of Havana.
Last month, Cuban authorities arrested Nuñez and Alcantara for their role in organising a concert against Decree 349, a vague law that will give the government more control over the display and exchange of art. The law, due to come into force on 1 December 2018, gives the Ministry of Culture increased power to censor, issue fines and confiscate materials for work of which they do not approve. The pair were beaten during their detention.
It was the second arrest in three weeks for Alcantara in relation to Decree 349.
“The UK makes much of its support for freedom of expression,” said Index on Censorship chief executive Jodie Ginsberg. “But while it talks the talk, it fails to walk the walk. Denying visas to artists who have faced oppression in their own countries for speaking out simply emboldens the oppressor.”
In August, directors of some of Britain’s biggest festivals signed a letter calling for the government to make its “overly complex” visa application process more transparent, after a surge in refusals and complications for authors, artists and musicians invited to perform in the UK.
Signatories of the letter included Nick Barley, the director of Edinburgh international book festival, and Chris Smith, the director of Womad after both went public with their festivals’ attempts to get visas for authors and musicians.
Yana Peel, CEO of the Serpentine Galleries and a judge of this year’s Freedom of Expression Awards said: “This is extremely disappointing news. Artists from overseas are being unfairly treated by the current visa system and it is beginning to have a significant impact on our programmes and events. In today’s climate, it is especially important that artists coming to Britain know that they are welcome.”
Nunez and Alcantara – who had been due to take up a two-week residency with Metal in Southend – were refused their visas on the grounds of insufficient evidence they would be able to support themselves financially during their stay.
“That’s nonsense,” said Hinojosa. “We provided ample evidence of the support they would receive and that Index would stand as guarantor. We have run our awards for nearly 20 years and never had any of our winners overstay or breach their visa terms.”
Colette Bailey, CEO and Artistic Director of Metal, said: “We are incredibly disappointed not to be welcoming Nunez and Alcantara to the UK as part of our International Artists in Residence programme. Our artists in residence programme is a platform for the exchange of ideas, culture and knowledge between artists from around the world and our local communities and young people. It is activity like this that contributes to the creativity of Britain, across sectors, and our enviable reputation as a creative powerhouse. This refusal is part of a worrying trend that cannot go unchallenged.”
In 2016, Index complained to UK authorities after UK border officials confiscated the passport of Syrian journalist, Zaina Erhaim who had been invited in her capacity as that year’s winner of the Freedom of Expression Award for journalism to speak at an event alongside veteran journalist Kate Adie.[/vc_column_text][/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:1537976994705-c0f32970-0b8a-0″ taxonomies=”23772″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
25 Sep 18 | Campaigns -- Featured, Counter Terrorism, Statements, United Kingdom
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship has filed an official notification with the Council of Europe raising concerns about the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill’s impacts on media freedom in the UK.
Index believes that the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill would undermine media freedom and damage journalism if it is enacted in its current form.
The bill would criminalise watching online content likely to be useful for terrorism, even if viewed with no terrorist intent. The offence would carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years. It would make the work of investigative journalists very difficult.
The bill would criminalise publishing (for example, by posting online) images of clothing or an article such as a flag in a way that aroused “reasonable suspicion” that the person doing it was a member or supporter of a proscribed (terrorist) organisation.
The bill would introduce new border security measures that would not allow journalists to protect sources and confidential materials.
The bill will be considered in the House of Lords on 9 October.
Index is an official partner in the Council of Europe’s Platform for the safety of journalism.
Joy Hyvarinen, head of advocacy said: “Index considers this bill to be a threat to media freedom in the UK, which is why we have alerted the Council of Europe. It is extremely important to tackle terrorism, but doing it by undermining media freedom is not the right way. Journalists must be free to do their work”.[/vc_column_text][/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:1537888523395-496f859a-3b84-3″ taxonomies=”27743″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
10 Sep 18 | Campaigns -- Featured, Statements
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Index on Censorship is concerned about the UK’s Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill and believes that the bill should go back to the drawing board.
The bill threatens investigative journalism and academic research by making it a crime to view material online that could be helpful to a terrorist. This would deter investigative journalists from doing their work and would make academic research into terrorism difficult or impossible.
New border powers in the bill could put journalists’ confidential sources at risk. The bill’s border security measures would mean that journalists could be forced to answer questions or hand over material that would reveal the identity of a confidential source. These new powers could be exercised without any grounds for suspicion.
The bill also endangers freedom of expression in other ways. It would make it an offence to express an opinion in support of a proscribed (terrorist) organisation in a way that is ‘reckless’ as to whether this could encourage another person to support the organisation. This would apply even if the reckless person was making the statement to one other person in a private home.
The bill would criminalise the publication of a picture or video clip of an item of clothing or for example a flag in a way that aroused suspicion that the person is a member or supporter of a terrorist organisation. This would cover, for example, someone taking a picture of themselves at home and posting it online.
Joy Hyvarinen, head of advocacy said: “The fundamentally flawed Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill should be sent back to the drawing board. It is not fit for purpose and it would limit freedom of expression, journalism and academic research in a way that should be completely unacceptable in a democratic country.”[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-file-text-o” color=”black” background_style=”rounded” size=”xl” align=”right” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2F2018%2F06%2Findex-on-censorship-submission-on-the-counter-terrorism-and-border-security-bill-2018%2F|||”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
Laws that protect our rights to read, research, debate and argue are too easily removed. Index is concerned that clauses of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill will diminish those rights and freedoms. It submitted a paper to parliament to ask it to consider changes to the proposed bill in June 2018.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/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:1536334784930-919b120b-ab92-0″ taxonomies=”7324, 28625, 26927″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
06 Sep 18 | Events, Volume 47.03 Autumn Extras
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”102490″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Join BBC Radio 4’s FutureProofing series presenter Timandra Harkness and special guests Graham Lawton (New Scientist) and Keith Kahn-Harris (author of Denial: The Unspeakable Truth) for an exploration of the Age of Unreason at The Royal Institution.
We will be asking what happens when powerful people like President Trump and Philippines President Duterte embrace falsehoods and decry facts as lies. Are we now living in a world where reason is being trumped by emotion and where scientific research is dismissed because it doesn’t fit with the public’s gut feelings? Or do we just need to argue differently and learn how to persuade?
Using footage of real-life debates in the past and present day, Timandra Harkness and the team will run a short workshop with the audience on how to have better arguments in an age of unreason. There will also be a short panel discussion afterwards exploring science and censorship in the current global climate with an opportunity for audience Q&A.
With thanks to The Royal Institution and SAGE Publishing.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
When: Tuesday 2 October, 6.30-9pm
Where: The Royal Institution, 21 Albemarle St, Mayfair, London W1S 4BS
Tickets: Free. Registration required via Eventbrite.
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