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Trevor Ncube has been short listed for a prestigious Freedom of
Expression Award
Index
on Censorship Freedom of Expression
February 27, 2007
Zimbabwe journalist, Trevor Ncube,
has been short listed for a prestigious Freedom of Expression Award
from the human rights organisation Index on Censorship.
The 7th annual Index on
Censorship Freedom of Expression awards take place at LSO St Luke's,
London, on 14 March 2007.
This year’s awards will be presented
by Anna Ford, with a keynote speech from Jung Chang, bestselling
author of Mao: The Untold Story and Wild Swans.
The Nominees are:
Index on Censorship/Hugo Young Award
for Journalism 2007
This award, given in memory of Guardian columnist Hugo
Young, goes to a journalist who has shown an outstanding
commitment to journalistic integrity in defence of freedom of expression.
- Jayyab Abu Safia (Gaza), Jayyab has received death
threats from Islamic fundamentalists for his refusal to stop airing
Western music and discussing controversial subjects on his phone-in
programme on Gaza FM, the only apolitical station in the region.
- Kareem Amer (Egypt) Kareem Amer is the pseudonym
for 22-year-old blogger Abdul Kareem Suleiman Amer, who now faces
a trial in Egypt that could land him nine years in jail.
- Trevor Ncube (Zimbabwe) Ncube’s tireless work
in continuing to run the only independent newspapers in Zimbabwe
while under constant attack from the government has been described
as ‘incredibly inspiring’. Despite a number of personal attacks,
the government has been unable to shut down Trevor’s newspapers
or otherwise silence him.
- Carlos Lozano (Colombia) Carlos Lozano is the
editor of the only opposition newspaper in Colombia, one of the
most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. In May
2005 he received a death threat and had a car bomb placed in front
of his offices. Carlos now lives under 24 hour armed guard.
The T.R. Fyvel Book Award 2007
To honour freedom of expression through literature:
- Being Arab: Samir Kassir. Samir
Kassir was one of Lebanon’s best known journalists and historians.
Kassir was a vocal critic of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon.
He was assassinated by a car bomb in Beirut on June 2nd
2005
- In the
Name of Honour: Mukhtar Mai. After a
horrific gang rape in Pakistan Mukhtar Mai defied custom which
dictated she should kill herself and in an unprecedented act of
courage she took her rapists to court. In this moving account,
Mai allows her readers to look inside a world of ancient tribal
justice, poverty and economic and sexual bondage.
- What is the What: Dave Eggers. The
story of Valentino Achak Deng, a refugee of the Sudanese Civil
War. Deng becomes one of the “Lost Boys” searching for sanctuary,
pursued by militias. Eventually he makes it to America where a
very different struggle begins.
- In the Country of Men: Hisham Matar. A
deeply effecting story of love and betrayal set against the political
background of Libya. “In the Country of Men” goes to the heart
of the cruelties and frailties of human experience.
The Index on Censorship Film Award
2007
An annual award that honours freedom of expression in film and
documentary.
- 5 Days: Directed by Yoav Shamir.
With unique access, this film chronicles the Israeli Defence Forces
as they evacuate 8,000 Jewish settlers from the Gaza strip in
5 days to make way for 250,000 Palestinians.
- Iraq in Fragments: Directed by James Longley.
Culled from 300 hours of footage taken over a two year period
and presented with no scripted voice over, this documentary is
at once expansive and intimate, harrowing and transcendent.
- Viva Zapatero: Directed by Sabina Guzzatani.
When her satirical show was taken off air for criticising Silvio
Berlusconi’s grip on the Italian media, Guzzatani took to the
streets boldly confronting the people who made that decision.
This ferociously funny film documents her efforts.
- Bamako: Directed by Abderrahmane Sissako.
In this drama, a group of poverty stricken Africans set up court
in Bamako to try international financial institutions the World
Bank and the IMF. The film provides a platform from which millions
of voiceless Africans can challenge the arrogance of these organisations.
The Bindmans’ Law and Campaigns Award
2007
This award will be presented to campaigning human rights organisations
or individual lawyers for their outstanding defence of freedom of
expression.
- Yalemzewd Bekele (Ethiopia) Yalemzewd Bekele is
a prominent human rights lawyer whose projects focus on civil
society and women’s issues. Ethiopian authorities arrested Bekele
for 8 days in October. Amnesty International believed her to be
at high risk of torture and mistreatment.
- Abdul-Rahman Al-Lahem (Saudi Arabia) Abdul-Rahman Al-Lahem
seeks out high-profile cases that highlight the problems in Shariah
law in Saudi Arabia. His major cases have confronted the treatment
of rape victims, freedom of religious expression and homosexuality.
- Stanislav Dmitriyevsky and the Russian-Chechen
Friendship Society (Russia) Director of the Russian-Chechen
Friendship Society, Stanislav Dmitriyevsky was issued
a two-year suspended prison sentence and a four-year
probation period for ‘inciting interethnic hatred by using the mass media’. The verdict leaves him vulnerable
to imprisonment for minor infractions, including
ones provoked by government agents.
- Siphiwe Hlophe (Swaziland) Nominated by David
Blunkett. In 1999, Siphiwe Hlophe discovered she was HIV positive.
As a result, her husband left her and she lost an academic scholarship,
but she reacted by co-founding an organization called Swazis for
Positive Living which aims to fight gender discrimination related
to HIV/Aids and help other HIV/Aids victims.
Index on Censorship Whistleblower Award
2007
An award for a very particular kind of courage
- Chen Guangcheng (China) Chen Guangcheng is a
self-taught lawyer in the Shandong province of China. He’s known
as the ‘barefoot lawyer’, a blind activist who has been regaled
as representative of an emerging group of liberal Chinese intellectuals.
In 2005, Chen gained international attention for publicising reports
of forced abortions and sterilisations.
- Dr Jawad Al Hashemy (Iraq) Dr. Jawad runs the Anti
Corruption Centre and campaigns tirelessly for a Freedom of Information
Act in Iraq. His organisation set up a whistleblower hotline and
he conducts his work in the face of huge personal risk and danger
- Michael De Kort (USA) As an engineer for Lockheed Martin, Michael De
Kort noticed faults in the US Coast Guard’s Deepwater program.
After being told to keep quiet because the programme was behind
schedule, he broadcast his findings on YouTube. Although he lost
his job his video alerted Congress to what turned out to be a
complete lack of disclosure about problems the Coast Guard knew
about for years.
- Christian Mounzéo (The Republic of Congo) Christian
Mounzéo was arrested and released twice in 2006 and has been the
victim of continuing harassment on the part of the Congo-Brazzaville
authorities because of his outspoken criticism of government corruption
and its mismanagement of oil revenues
Judges
Mark Kermode:
film critic & broadcaster on BBC Radio Five and a regular contributor
to BBC2’s Newsnight Review and The Culture Show. He writes for The
Observer, and is a contributing editor to Sight and Sound and has
authored two volumes for the British Film Institute Modern Classics
series.
Prof Conor Gearty:
is Rausing Director of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights,
a practicing barrister and professor of human rights law at the
LSE.
Dreda Say Mitchell:
Novelist and Educationalist; her critically acclaimed first novel,
RUNNING HOT, was awarded the CWA’s John Creasey Memorial Dagger
for best debut crime novel in 2005.
Richard Sambrook:
is Director of the BBC's Global News division, responsible for leading
the BBC's international news services across radio, television and
new media.
Kenan Malik:
writer, lecturer and broadcaster. He is a presenter of Analysis
on BBC Radio 4 and Senior Visiting Fellow at the Department of Political,
International and Policy Studies at the University of Surrey.
Ursula Owen OBE: co-founder of Virago Press, she was editor in chief
and chief executive of Index on Censorship for 13 years.
She was awarded an OBE in 2004 for services to international human
rights.
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