19 Apr 18 | Awards
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/o-Bb-sJQ0Qg”][vc_column_text]In the last four years as head of Index I have used various ways to describe this organisation, but a friend hit it on the head earlier this week when she emailed about a vigil she was organising in London. “Index,” she said “please don’t forget to bring your megaphone.”
And that’s us. That’s what we do. Index brings the megaphone. Both literally and metaphorically.
We amplify the voices of those facing censorship – by publishing their work, by campaigning on their behalf, and by supporting them through initiative like the awards fellowship. And we amplify the cause of freedom of expression by promoting debate about it.
Why do we do it?
We do it because we believe freedom of expression is not just a fundamental freedom, but the fundamental freedom. The one on which all others are based. Without freedom of expression how do we begin to articulate our desire for all other freedoms – the freedom to love whomever we choose, to express our faith – or lack of it – or our political beliefs. Freedom of expression allows us to test our ideas, posit our opinions – and to have those ideas and opinions tested. Freedom of expression is not a freedom that benefits only the powerful and privileged. It is what allows us to hold them to account. Free speech has been at the heart of resistance and reform movements since time immemorial. From women’s suffrage to gay rights. As civil rights activist and US congressman John Lewis observed: “Without freedom of speech and the right to dissent, the Civil Rights movement would have been a bird without wings.”
Freedom of expression gives hope, thought and desire flight — and it is a right that continues to benefit modern movements for change.
It is also freedom that is hard won but easily lost.
Index has fought for this freedom for the past 46 years. We make good on our belief that everyone should be able to express themselves free from fear of harm or persecution by publishing work by censored writers and artists, by monitoring threats to media freedom, and through our awards fellowship.
Our goal in all of this is the same: to amplify the voices of those fighting to be heard – no matter what their views.
We are proud to know and to celebrate not just tonight’s winners, but also all of this year’s nominees – and we are glad that some, like Silvanos, are able to be with us this evening. We are proud to be joined by former winners Zaina Erhaim, Safa Al Ahmad and to be celebrating tonight’s winners with other courageous defenders of free speech: Sayed Alwadaei, Matthew and Paul Caruana Galizia – who are ensuring not only that the killers of their mother Daphne are brought to justice but that her stories and those of individuals like her see the light of day.
And as we remember Daphne we also think of those winners who cannot be with us this evening such as Nabeel Rajab and Bassel Khartabil.
Freedom of expression needs such passionate defenders. We need such passionate defenders of freedom of expression.
But freedom of expression is not simply about defending a principle. Freedom of expression needs defenders, yes, but it also needs friends. As we heard from Zaheena Rasheed, sometimes all you need to carry on is the knowledge that you are not alone.
Your presence here this evening reminds all those who fight to make their voices heard, and who champion the rights of everyone to speak freely, that they are not alone.
But, as those of you who have attended an awards event before know, freedom of expression is not free. Even megaphones cost money. Index achieves an enormous amount with a staff of just 12 people, whom I salute and applaud this evening, and with the help of supporters like the Edwardian Hotels Group who have generously provided tonight’s venue, drinks and canapes – as well as the accommodation for our winners. Despite this, we cannot help all those we want to. We want to do more. And we’d like you to help us to do that.
So, this is the part of the evening where you get to express yourselves. I’d like to ask each and every one of you who does not already support Index – and those who do – to take that pen and to express yourself by making a donation to Index. Now.
Let’s speak loudly together and lift up the voices not just of Yanelys and Luis, Wendy, Guy and Ahmad but all those fighting to speak freely.
Thank you.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
19 Apr 18 | Awards, Cuba, Fellowship, Fellowship 2018
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/-UpVto-2Sf0″][vc_column_text]
Perla Hinojosa, Fellowship and Advocacy Officer at Index on Censorship, holds the 2018 Freedom of Expression Arts Award for Cuban arts collective Museum of Dissidence, who could not attend the Freedom of Expression Awards. (Photo: Index on Censorship)
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara: First of all I would like to thank Index and everyone for being here. We had to do this via video because the bureaucracy, the embassies and the powers that be prevented us from being here to accept the award. It’s sad, because we would have liked to share this moment with all of you and the happiness that we feel receiving this award. This award for us means a lot but it also means a lot to all the artists who have preceded us and who are the reason why we have been able to work with a little bit more freedom and a little less fear. Antonia Eiriz, Tania Bruguera, Danilo Maldonado, Angel Delgado and all the artists who have suffered a lack of freedom of expression and creative freedom and who in one way or the other have never given up and have fought for their rights.
Yanelys Nuñez Leyva: On my part, I am happy because this is a boost, where the work of the museum is recognised internationally. This is not the work of just two people, it’s the work of a big collective. There’s a lot of artists but also many activists who are involved in the projects of the Museum of Dissidence. And for us, this is a recognition for them as well.
Luis Manuel: Freedom of expression is an integral part of all societies. It’s what allows us to question all the processes that can happen to an individual. From being able to tell a mother that her way of bringing up her children in a certain way is aggressive or not. To being able to say a political system is corrupt. To being able to express yourself to another person without facing violence or repression.
Yanelys: For me, freedom of expression is like breathing and being able to move every day. It’s something natural that enables us to improve ourselves and grow.
Luis Manuel: Freedom of expression also promotes love towards yourself, towards other people and all the people around you.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84882″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
For his one-man protests, Ildar Dadin was sent to prison in December 2015 where he was tortured, before his conviction was quashed in February 2017. Read the full profile.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84888″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Despite the persecution he faces for his work, Rebel Pepper continues to satirise the Chinese state from a life in exile in Japan. Read the full profile
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84889″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Established in 2015, Turkey Blocks is an independent digital research organisation that monitors internet access restrictions in Turkey. Read the full profile.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84887″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Maldives Independent, the Maldives’ premiere English publication and one of the few remaining independent media outlets, was formed in exile in Sri Lanka in 2004. Read the full profile.
[/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:1524235545550-0aab9a14-081b-8″ taxonomies=”8935″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
19 Apr 18 | Awards, Fellowship, Fellowship 2018
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/ShavP70VY4o”][vc_single_image image=”99812″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms is one of the few human rights organisations still operating in a country which has waged an orchestrated campaign against independent civil society groups. Egypt is becoming increasingly hostile to dissent, but ECRF continues to provide advocacy, legal support and campaign coordination, drawing attention to the many ongoing human rights abuses under the autocratic rule of President Abdel Fattah-el-Sisi. Their work has seen them subject to state harassment, their headquarters have been raided and staff members arrested. ECRF are committed to carrying on with their work regardless of the challenges.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am honoured being with you this evening, no words can explain my gratitude to Index on Censorship for such an opportunity to speak in front of you and for having this valuable prize on behalf of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms. Such international recognition makes us stronger.
No matter how dark is the moment, love and hope are always possible.
And when I speak of love and hope, I have to speak about Hanan Badeldin, the young lady whose husband Khaled Hafez disappeared five years ago, and she persistently kept looking for him all this time through visiting all prisons, asking forcibly disappeared people who reappeared if they saw her husband in any detention facilities they had been to. During one of these visits, almost a year ago, Hanan was arrested and detained on charges of smuggling an illicit item into prison. This illicit item was a paper with the name of her husband and the date of his disappearance, asking to be circulated among prisoners so that anyone who might have seen her husband could give her any information about him
Did Hanan surrender? No, in every renewal of her detention session, she took the photo of her husband with her, raising it in the hope that any other prisoner there might identify where he was.
And when I speak of love and hope, I have to speak about Ibrahim Metwally, whose son Amr disappeared in 2013. Ibrahim kept looking for him for more than four years and Ibrahim is now in jail. Why? Because he formed the association of the families of the forcibly disappeared, and this has been sufficient reason for the authorities to lock him up in solitary confinement in a cell full of garbage for more than a year.
And when I speak of love and hope, I have to speak about Paola Regeni and her son Giulio, an Italian PhD student who lived in Egypt, who disappeared and was killed in Egypt in 2016. For more than two years she has sparked waves of hope and persistence both in Egypt and Italy, speaking each and every time about enforced disappearances in Egypt, speaking out for the truth for Giulio and the disappeared in Egypt.
And when I speak of love and hope, I have to speak about the great lawyers who spend a lot of sleepless nights trying to help victims in Egypt and the wonderful researchers and campaigners who remain the voice of the voiceless victims.
Love and hope were my cell mates when I was kept in solitary confinement at this time almost two years ago in a dark cell where I was deprived of even having a pillow and let me tell you, they were the perfect companions.
Love and hope are our sole weapons against our greatest enemy fear. Together we will conquer it, and it is not an anticipation, it is a promise.
Truth for Giulio Regeni and every Giulio in Egypt.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s an honour to be here with you tonight. Thank you so much.
Full profile[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84882″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
For his one-man protests, Ildar Dadin was sent to prison in December 2015 where he was tortured, before his conviction was quashed in February 2017. Read the full profile.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84888″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Despite the persecution he faces for his work, Rebel Pepper continues to satirise the Chinese state from a life in exile in Japan. Read the full profile
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84889″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Established in 2015, Turkey Blocks is an independent digital research organisation that monitors internet access restrictions in Turkey. Read the full profile.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84887″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Maldives Independent, the Maldives’ premiere English publication and one of the few remaining independent media outlets, was formed in exile in Sri Lanka in 2004. Read the full profile.
[/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:1524235546790-0bd59964-8ec6-6″ taxonomies=”8935″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
19 Apr 18 | Awards, Fellowship, Fellowship 2018
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/mCmRy7htLos”][vc_column_text]
Congolese digital activist Guy Muyembe of 2018 Freedom of Expression Digital Activism Award-winning Habari RDC (Photo: Index on Censorship)
Launched in 2016, Habari RDC is a collective of more than 100 young Congolese bloggers and web activists, who use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to give voice to the opinions of young people from all over the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their site posts stories and cartoons about politics, but it also covers football, the arts and subjects such as domestic violence, child exploitation, the female orgasm and sexual harassment at work. Habari RDC offers a distinctive collection of funny, angry and modern Congolese voices, who are demanding to be heard.
In the early 2000s a young teenager wanted to share what he thought of Congolese society. It was so important to him. He had so much to say. He, the boy who grew up in the mining region of Katanga in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, wanted only one thing: to finally speak.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is almost 10 times the size of the United Kingdom. One of the European explorers described this immense territory as a geological scandal. Little did he know how accurate he was being. This country is a scandal. In a country that supplies minerals needed to make your smartphones more than two million of its children are victims of malnutrition and its young people are idled by massive unemployment.
In the mid-2000s, I discovered the internet and its applications like blogs and social networks. It was great. I immediately realised the power of this tool. Finally, I had in my hands a means of allowing me to denounce these scandals.
In a country like mine, there are multiple polarisations, and at all scales of power. The Guardian, last year mentioned the transition to the era of the post-truth, people no longer believe the facts. In the DRC, we have been pioneers in this area. The spread of the rumour was there before social networks, it has only grown since.
It is in this context that Habari, our organisation was formed around 100 bloggers distributed around the country. We are a team of editors who verify the facts that we rely on. We may not always agree because we have diverse opinions, but we all work together for the greater good of our country.
Great is my joy on this day to receive, on behalf of the Congolese blogging community Habari DRC, this Index on Censorship Digital Activism Award. I consider this honour more a recognition than a reward. In my opinion, all the Congolese bloggers are invited on this day to redouble their efforts to make freedom of expression on the internet triumph.
First and foremost, I would like to thank the team that I have the chance to coordinate. All bloggers who see Habari as a big Congolese family and our hundreds of thousands of readers and commentators.
I would like to thank Index for recognising our work, our activism and, above all, our honesty, which is our are our cardinal value.
I would also like to thank RNW Media, the Dutch organisation that supports us on a daily basis.
My thoughts are with all those who are imprisoned, tortured and humiliated for exercising their freedom of expression.
Long live Habari DRC! Long live Index Censorship!
Full profile.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84882″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
For his one-man protests, Ildar Dadin was sent to prison in December 2015 where he was tortured, before his conviction was quashed in February 2017. Read the full profile.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84888″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Despite the persecution he faces for his work, Rebel Pepper continues to satirise the Chinese state from a life in exile in Japan. Read the full profile
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84889″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Established in 2015, Turkey Blocks is an independent digital research organisation that monitors internet access restrictions in Turkey. Read the full profile.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”84887″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
Maldives Independent, the Maldives’ premiere English publication and one of the few remaining independent media outlets, was formed in exile in Sri Lanka in 2004. Read the full profile.
[/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:1524235551501-336b69ac-5b19-5″ taxonomies=”8935″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
