16 Oct 2018 | Campaigns -- Featured, Counter Terrorism, Statements, United Kingdom
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Index believes that the bill would introduce unacceptable restrictions on freedom of expression in the UK and would damage journalism and academic research. The attached briefing note highlights some of Index’s concerns.
The House of Lords will consider the bill again on 29 October.
Joy Hyvarinen, head of advocacy, said: “Index urges all members of the House of Lords to pay close attention to the amendments proposed by the Joint Committee on Human Rights and to ensure that they fully understand the implications of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill. The bill would limit UK citizens’ rights, damage journalism and undermine academic research – it should be scrutinised closely.”
Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill Briefing Note 15 October 2018[/vc_column_text][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”10″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1539676579541-ec89dad3-0bf0-6″ taxonomies=”27743″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
8 Oct 2018 | Campaigns -- Featured, Counter Terrorism, Statements
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Index on Censorship is urging the House of Lords to stop the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill being enacted in its current form. The House of Lords will begin considering the bill tomorrow.
The bill, which has been slipping quietly through parliament, would reshape the legal framework for freedom of expression and journalism in the UK in a very damaging way. It would have far-reaching implications for academic research.
The vague and unclear bill would criminalise expressing an opinion that is “supportive” of a proscribed (terrorist) organisation if done in a “reckless” way that encourages someone else to support that organisation (see Clause 1). This comes very close to criminalising opinion and would carry a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
Index is deeply concerned about other sections of the bill, which would undermine media freedom and restrict the rights of journalists. The bill would criminalise accessing content online that is likely to be useful for terrorism, even if you have no terrorist intent. A journalist investigating a terrorism-related story would risk a 15-year prison sentence. The bill would also criminalise publishing (for example, posting on social media) a picture or video clip of an item of clothing or an article such as a flag in a way that raises “reasonable suspicion” that the person doing it is a member or supporter of a terrorist organisation. The Joint Committee on Human Rights has recommended that this clause be withdrawn or amended because it “risks a huge swathe of publications being caught, including historical images and journalistic articles”.
Index has filed an official notification with the Council of Europe about the threats to media freedom in the bill and is awaiting the government’s reply to the Council. The Media Freedom Representative of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has written to the UK to express his worries about the bill.
United Nations special rapporteur Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin has expressed concerns about several parts of the bill, including its impacts on journalism, and emphasised that it should be brought in line with the UK’s obligations under international human rights law.
Joy Hyvarinen, head of advocacy, said: “The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill has far-reaching and very damaging implications for freedom of expression and journalism in the UK. It has been slipping through Parliament with little attention from MPs. Index urges the House of Lords to stand up for the rights of UK citizens’ and stop the bill from being enacted in its current form”.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column 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][vc_column 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][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1538995099996-7859ed1d-3ad3-2″ taxonomies=”27743″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
23 Aug 2018 | Bahrain, Bahrain Letters, Campaigns -- Featured, Statements
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Dear Your Majesty,
My name is Ali Mushaima, and I am writing to ask Your Majesty to help me save the life of my 70-year-old father, Hassan Mushaima, who is now paying a harsh price for demanding human rights and democratic change in Bahrain in 2011.
The deep relations between Buckingham Palace and its Bahraini counterpart have been celebrated on many occasions. Your Majesty has now played host to King Hamad of Bahrain at the Royal Windsor Horse Show for several years, even offering him the privilege of a seat next to Your Majesty during the event. Last year, Your Majesty gifted King Hamad a three-year-old Arabian stallion, Hamdani Ra’ad, thereby publicly declaring the strength of your personal relationship with the Bahraini Royal family. I am sure that your gift is now receiving the best possible care in Bahrain; regrettably, this is not a luxury afforded to political prisoners. My father is not even entitled to enjoy his basic human rights while he is unfairly rotting in infamous Jau Prison.
The total indifference my father’s case has received from both the Bahraini Government and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has left me with no choice but to follow my father’s firm commitment to peaceful protest. Today, I am sitting outside the Bahraini Embassy in Belgrave Square, only half a mile away from Buckingham Palace, preparing myself to enter the 21st day of my hunger strike to protest his inhumane treatment.
I start each day by walking to Victoria Station to bathe, before returning to the site of my protest which, so far, has done little to improve my father’s prison condition. After 20 days, I am deeply disappointed that my simple requests have fallen on deaf ears. Life imprisonment is not considered cruel enough by those who seek to silence my father, as it appears that the Bahraini government deem the dignity and well-being of a human less worthy than that of a horse.
The Bahraini authorities are now slowly but deliberately killing him by denying him access to vital medical care. My father suffers a number of serious chronic illnesses, including erratic blood pressure and diabetes, and is also a survivor of lymphoma cancer. On a daily basis, he is required to take a variety of medications to stabilise these conditions. Without them, his life is at risk. Since 2016, however, the government has prevented him from seeing an oncologist to determine whether his lymphoma cancer has returned, despite the need for screenings every six months.
These life-threatening measures add to the humiliation my father is constantly subjected to. My father has not seen his family since February 2017, as authorities have punished political prisoners specifically by imposing further degrading restrictions on healthcare, family visits and access to books. Political prisoners are forcibly chained and shackled if they want to see their beloved ones. My father, however, refused to accept these demeaning conditions.
My doctor has expressed serious concerns about my considerable weight loss. Nonetheless, my frustrations have led me to explore more extreme avenues: I will go on a full hunger strike by sacrificing my intake of vital sugars (through juice), despite the risks this entails for my own health, if the Bahraini authorities do not meet my demands by next week.
This week I will be celebrating Eid in Belgrave Square rather than at home, with my beloved wife and 4-months-old daughter. While I will only be denied the comfort of home on this special day, at least I will be celebrating as a free man. My father, instead, is being forced to spend yet another Eid behind bars and separated from his family, who he has not seen for over 18 months, a basic right that seems to have become a privilege.
I would like to ask Your Majesty to use the influence and strong friendship with the King of Bahrain to help me save my father. All I ask for is for him to be treated humanely, including access to adequate medical treatment, books, and family visitation without subjecting him to humiliating measures.
To end, I hope Your Majesty makes it clear to their Bahraini King that the rights and dignity of a human being are non-negotiable, and that the United Kingdom’s strong commitment to these principles goes far beyond historical ties and so will not be compromised.
Your Sincerely,
Ali Mushaima
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2 Aug 2018 | Artistic Freedom, Event Reports, News and features
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]“When I started recording my music I made the decision that I would be out. But at the same time I was so conscious of using pronouns and not coming across as too gay or not coming across too assuming,” said MNEK, English singer, songwriter and record producer, speaking at the Sonos Store in London.
Expression Uncensored, which was hosted by Sonos, Index on Censorship and Gay Times Magazine, featured a panel — Julia Farrington, associate art producer at Index, MNEK, Sado Opera, a queer band, and Princess Julia, a DJ and music writer — that discussed queer music and censorship around the world.
Farrington defined the two main types of censorship that she believes exist — classic state-sponsored censorship imposed through laws and government, and self-censorship.
MNEK’s self-censoring in the beginning of his career was the result of societal pressures. While he said that his coming out was in general a positive experience, he also talked about growing up in a British-Nigerian household where the only thing you hear about homosexuality is that it is wrong. After coming out to his parents, MNEK said that while they support his career and the music he produces, they are sometimes still shocked because “it’s not something they’re used to but it’s all about them learning. There’s nothing wrong with learning something new.”
Living in London, Princess Julia said she had never faced state-sponsored censorship. Instead she faced self-censorship as a result of cultural pressures to look and be a certain way. As part of the Blitz Kids of the 1970s, she helped usher in an era of queer people being able to express themselves the way they wanted to.
She believes that “there’s always been avant garde scenes, underground scenes going on. In times of repression or rebellion even, these scenes tend to emerge. Obviously in Russia, that why there are pockets of creative people striving forth and trying to have an identity.”
Hailing from Russia, Sado Opera faced more state-sponsored censorship, which, in general, leads to self-censorship for fear of being targeted.
Sado Opera was originally created to fight the censorship and homophobia in Russia. The group talked about Russia’s homosexual propaganda law, which forbids talking about homosexuality in public. The name of the law was changed to Promoting Untraditional Family Values to hide the homophobia of the government. The government gives laws unassuming names to make it harder for people to discern the malicious intent behind the legislation, Sado Opera explained.
“Other artists might want to express support, but they can’t. The atmosphere makes you double-think what you say” said Sado Opera.
Although MNEK hasn’t experienced the level of state-sponsored censorship that Sado Opera has, he talks about how he hasn’t been to Nigeria in a long time because of unconscious “fears and my own insecurities with going back there and knowing the legislative issues that are there.”
Sado Opera was only able to be more open about their message when they moved to Berlin, where they have sponsorship from a club and have partnered with several organisations that support LGBTQ+ people facing persecution and women who have survived rape.
MNEK said “it’s a bonus when you realise your music is helping someone live their life” and each artist revealed similar sentiments. [/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_column_text]
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Index encourages an environment in which artists and arts organisations can challenge the status quo, speak out on sensitive issues and tackle taboos.
Index currently runs workshops in the UK, publishes case studies about artistic censorship, and has produced guidance for artists on laws related to artistic freedom in England and Wales.
Learn more about our work defending artistic freedom.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_single_image image=”101971″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”101969″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
