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This year’s commemoration of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists “aims to promote a broader discussion on the safety of journalists working in crisis and emergency situations”*. Given the clear upward trend in crimes committed in these contexts, a dedicated event is being held from 6 to 7 November at the headquarters of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, co-organised by UNESCO.

On this occasion, Cartooning for Peace has a duty to raise the fate of Lebanese cartoonist Hassan Bleibel, who recently lost his home in an Israeli army bombardment in the southern suburbs of Beirut, and that of Gazan cartoonist Mahasen al-Khatib, who died on 18 October in the bombardment of the Jabalya camp for displaced persons. To name but a few. The displaced Gazan cartoonist Safaa Odah is reduced to surviving in inhuman conditions in Gaza and drawing on her tent for want of paper.

Impunity is the common thread running through the alerts that Cartooning for Peace has published in recent months, particularly in the context of legal proceedings in which arbitrariness prevails and which are used as instruments of repression by regimes that despise freedom of expression. Such is the case of the Saudi cartoonist Al Hazza, who has just been sentenced to a further 23 years in prison, after serving an initial 6-year sentence and being subjected to enforced disappearance and ill-treatment. The same goes for the Egyptian cartoonist Ashraf Omar, also a victim of enforced disappearance and ill-treatment, who has been detained for almost 100 days without any possibility of defending his rights. And the Iranian cartoonist Atena Farghadani, sentenced to 6 years in prison after being beaten up when she was arrested, and the victim of attempted poisoning and ill-treatment during a previous detention. The physical safety of each of these cartoonists in detention is under threat.

We must, each at our own level, bear witness to these lives shattered by arbitrary treatment and ensure that their fate is not ignored. We must relentlessly denounce the impunity of these crimes, which are the mainspring of their repetition.

Ending impunity for crimes committed against journalists is also “a fundamental necessity to guarantee the full exercise of the right to freedom of expression and the possibility for all to participate in an open, free and dynamic exchange of ideas”*.

* Source: International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists | United Nations

Alert Saudi Arabia – Al Hazza

16 October 2024

Saudi cartoonist Mohamed Al Ghamdi (“Al Hazza”) sentenced to 23 years in prison

Just as he was about to be released after serving a 6-year prison sentence for his cartoons, Mohamed Al Ghamdi, alias Al Hazza, has just been sentenced to 23 years in prison following the reopening of his trial in December 2023, with no possibility of appeal.

The cartoonist was arrested in February 2018 by the Saudi authorities, who accused him of producing “offensive drawings” for the Qatari media outlet Lusail and publishing messages “hostile” to the Saudi regime and “favourable” to Qatar on social media. These prosecutions took place at a time when Saudi Arabia had cut all ties with Qatar, ties that have since been re-established in 2021. Mohamed Al Ghamdi, who has always contested the charges against him and denounced the fabrication of false accusations, was sentenced to 6 years’ imprisonment by a specialised criminal court set up to deal with terrorism-related cases.

Sanad, a London-based human rights organisation in Saudi Arabia, denounces his new 23-year prison sentence and points out that Mohamed Al Ghamdi, who is being held in Dhaban Central Prison in Jeddah, had already been the victim of enforced disappearance for several months, and that he also suffers ill-treatment in detention and a lack of access to healthcare despite significant health problems.

The organisation stresses that his case “illustrates a disturbing climate where no one is really safe; he has become a target simply because he is an artist, nothing else.” It calls for “urgent international action to protect artistic freedom and human rights in Saudi Arabia.”

Cartooning for Peace expresses its support for the urgent action initiated by the Sanad organisation and its solidarity with the cartoonist and his family, who are calling for his immediate and unconditional release.

At a time when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Salman – who is accused of being behind the murder of journalist Jamal Khasoggi in 2018 – has been invited to Brussels to take part in the first summit between the leaders of the European Union and the Arab countries of the Gulf, which is taking place today and in which French President Emmanuel Macron and President of the European commission Ursula Von der Leyen are notably taking part, Cartooning for Peace is calling for this condemnation not to be overlooked in the discussions.

Ranked 166/180 in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) world press freedom index, Saudi Arabia is a country where there is no free media. Saudi journalists are placed under close surveillance, even abroad. RSF reports that “since 2017, the number of journalists and bloggers behind bars has more than tripled” and that most are imprisoned arbitrarily. In 2024, the country had 24 journalists in detention.

Ashraf Omar: One hundred days a prisoner

Cairo, October 30th: Egyptian activist, cartoonist, and translator Ashraf Omar is spending his one-hundredth day in pre-trial detention, following the seventh consecutive extension to his period in custody since he was first arrested at his home on July 22nd. In the hours immediately after his arrest his whereabouts were unknown until he appeared in front of the Supreme State Security Prosecution two days later.

A contributor to the Al-Manassa independent news platform, Mr Omar stands accused of “joining a terrorist group while being aware of its purposes, disseminating and publishing rumours and false news and information, and abuse of social media”, with no presentation of evidence forthcoming. During a six-hour interrogation by the Supreme State Security Prosecution, he was asked whether his cartoons were intended to incite the public. In the days prior to his arrest Mr Omar’s cartoons had focused on the debt crises and electrical blackouts in Egypt.

It is further alleged that police beat Mr Omar at the time of his arrest and threatened him with electrocution. Contact with his friends and family has been limited, with a brief half-hour visit from his wife permitted once every month. He is held at the 10th of Ramadan Prison’s sixth facility. His period of pre-trial detention has been extended every fifteen days via video conference, in his absence and with no consultation between defence lawyer and client.

According to Human Rights Watch, such hearings were introduced by decree and in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, however their continued use “exacerbates longstanding abusive pretrial detention practices and flagrant due process violations, and effectively contributes to covering up abusive detention conditions.”

Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of DAWN (the NGO established by the late Jamal Khashoggi) said: “Egypt’s continued imprisonment of Ashraf Omar merely because some thin-skinned regime official was offended by his cartoons about the country’s miserable economic conditions says all you need to know about freedom of expression in Egypt. Egyptian officials are relying on their dirty bag of tricks, like endlessly renewing his pre-trial detention, to shut down artists and writers in the country.”

Ashraf Omar is no different from any other editorial cartoonist, exercising his fundamental human right to freedom of expression and, as a member of the press, making criticisms of government in a form that is inherently non-violent and wholly legitimate. In their response to that criticism, the Egyptian authorities overstep their bounds when they harm Mr Omar’s person and neglect their obligation to protect his human rights.

In bracketing Ashraf Omar’s work with terrorism, physically mistreating him, and ignoring due process in an effort to silence him, Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution sends a chilling message to every cartoonist in the country, and indeed any outspoken critic of the state.

9 September 2024

Rights organizations condemn spate of Egyptian journalist arrests, demand immediate release, accountability

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), along with 33 rights and press freedom organizations, condemns the recent arrests and enforced disappearance of four Egyptian journalists – Ashraf Omar, Khaled Mamdouh, Ramadan Gouida, and Yasser Abu Al-Ela – and calls for their immediate release.

The undersigned also call on Egyptian authorities to drop all charges against the journalists, stop targeting them for their work, end the practice of concealing the status or location of those in custody, swiftly and transparently investigate allegations that at least two of the journalists were tortured or treated inhumanely, and hold those responsible to account.

The list of arrested journalists and the violations against them includes:

Ashraf Omar, a cartoonist for the independent news outlet Al-Manassa, was arrested on July 22, 2024, and taken to an unknown location for two days. He appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) on July 24, where he was charged with offenses that include joining a terrorist group with knowledge of its purposes, spreading false news, and misusing social media. The SSSP also questioned Omar about his cartoons on Egypt’s economic conditions and the country’s electricity shortage, according to Al-Manassa. Omar’s wife reported that he was tortured, subjected to beating, and threatened with electric shocks during his enforced disappearance. The security authorities noted in the official arrest report that Omar was arrested on July 24, in an apparent attempt to cover up the two days of his disappearance, according to the Cairo-based human rights organization, Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE). On September 1, the SSSP renewed Omar’s detention for an additional 15 days pending investigation in Case No. 1968 of 2024 (Supreme State Security).

Khaled Mamdouh, a journalist for the independent news website Arabic Post, was arrested on July 16 and taken to an unknown location. During his arrest, his eldest son was physically assaulted by security forces, and his electronic devices, including his laptop and mobile phone, were seized. After six days of enforced disappearance, Mamdouh appeared before the SSSP on July 21. The SSSP charged him with joining a terrorist group with knowledge of its purposes, financing a terrorist group, and spreading false news. Mamdouh’s arrest report was dated July 20, not the date of his actual arrest on July 16, in what AFTE also believes was an apparent attempt to cover up his enforced disappearance. On August 26, the SSSP renewed Mamdouh’s detention for an additional 15 days pending investigation in Case No. 1282 of 2024 (Supreme State Security).

Ramadan Gouida, a journalist for the independent Al-Youm news website, was arrested on May 1 while on his way home in the Menofia Governorate and taken to an unknown accused him of joining a terrorist organization and spreading false news. His wife reported that Gouida’s arrest resulted from his name being mentioned during an interrogation of another journalist who previously worked with Gouida at the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated media outlet Freedom and Justice News in 2012. On August 26, the SSSP renewed Gouida’s detention for an additional 15 days pending investigation in Case No. 1568 of 2024 (Supreme State Security).

Yasser Abu Al-Ela, a journalist and member of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate, was arrested on March 10 and taken to an unknown location. During his interrogation before the SSSP, Abu Al-Ela informed the prosecutor that he had been subjected to physical and psychological torture during the 50 days of his enforced disappearance, according to The New Arab. His wife, Naglaa Fathi, and her sister were detained on April 27 at an unknown location for 13 days after filing several complaints with Egyptian authorities about her husband’s disappearance. Later, both women were charged with joining a terrorist organization and spreading false information on Facebook. On August 25, the SSSP renewed Abu Al-Ela’s detention for an additional 15 days pending investigation in Case No. 1568 of 2024 (Supreme State Security). During the renewal session, Abu Al-Ela declared that he would begin a hunger strike to protest his treatment in prison, which includes solitary confinement, a ban on family visits, and restrictions on leaving his cell during designated times.

The arrest of the four journalists has sparked a wave of fear and trauma among Egyptian journalists that CPJ has interviewed, particularly those who had been detained previously or had worked with Arabic Post, where Mamdouh was employed. On August 21, journalist Moataz Wadnan, who was arrested in February 2018 while working as a reporter for Arabic Post — known as HuffPost Arabi at the time of his arrest — and released in July 2021, wrote on his Facebook account that he left Egypt “in search of safety and stability, fearing a repeat of the detention.” Since he left last month, the Egyptian security forces have raided his home twice, searching for him.

In addition to these four journalists, authorities are also holding 11 other journalists, many of whom have been in custody for longer than the two-year legal limit for pretrial detention. Furthermore, authorities are using various tactics to curtail press freedom in the country, including banning independent media websites, employing the law to legally harass journalists and media outlets, and targeting Egyptian journalists in exile and their family members in Egypt.

The signatories to this statement call on Egypt to comply with its constitution, which guarantees freedom of the press and prohibits custodial sanctions against publishers. In addition to releasing all imprisoned journalists and dropping false charges, the government must stop blocking news websites and refrain from targeting Egyptian journalists and their family members within the country and abroad.

This new spate of arrests highlights the shameful record of the Egyptian authorities in targeting journalists and independent media, underscoring why Egypt has remained among the top 10 jailers of journalists worldwide in recent years, according to CPJ data. The arrests also demonstrate how enforced disappearance and torture have become common practices by the Egyptian security forces against journalists and others. The Egyptian government must take the steps outlined above to end this recent resurgence of repression against journalists and their families and commit to ensuring a free and vibrant press throughout the country.

Alert Gaza – Safaa Odah 

16 July 2024

Gaza : Palestinian cartoonist Safaa Odah’s cry for help

Palestinian cartoonist Safaa Odah writes to us from the Gaza Strip to implore our help. Displaced by the war with her sister several times, she lives in a tent “in a place not suitable for life” and reports the climate of total insecurity in which she lives, in addition to the constant bombardments. Her words reflect the appalling tragedy suffered by Palestinian civilians. As Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, pointed out, “nothing can justify the abhorrent 7 October terror attacks by Hamas. And nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

Safaa Odah evokes the scarcity and pollution of water, the absence of electricity, cleanliness, food, medical services and medicines, and conditions that deteriorate daily under suffocating heat. She has to travel long distances to access the Internet and connect with the world by sharing her cartoons, which bear powerful witness to the daily tragedy experienced by civilians.

“We are innocent people who do not want this war and we only want to live safe place, in peace.” Now she can’t draw anymore, which kills hope and inspiration.

Every effort must be made to protect journalists and media professionals wherever they may be in Gaza, where more than 100 journalists have been killed since the start of one of the deadliest conflicts for the press. Cartooning for Peace calls for the support and protection of Palestinian cartoonist Safaa Odah, alongside her fellow journalists.  

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) stresses the need to protect Gaza’s reporters : those who wish to do so must be evacuated, and the territory’s gates must be opened to the international media.

On July 11, 2024, over 70 international media and civil society organizations published an open letter coordinated by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), recalling the heavy toll paid by Palestinian journalists and calling on the Israeli authorities to allow foreign media “immediate and independent access” to the besieged Gaza Strip after nine months of war.

Alert Iran – Atena Farghadani - In prison since 7 months

Iranian cartoonist Atena Fargadhani sentenced to 6 years in prison

Facing “harshest punishment” for her activism, Atena Farghadani must be released immediately

We are dismayed to learn that the Iranian activist, artist, and cartoonist Atena Farghadani has been sentenced to a total of six years in prison; five years for “insulting the sacred” and one year for “propaganda against the State”.  This sentence was handed down by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Revolutionary Court on Monday, June 10, as confirmed by lawyer Mohammad Moghimi via social media. The maximum penalties are indicative of the Iranian regime’s long-standing determination to persecute and silence this courageous rights defender.

Atena Farghadani had been detained since April 13 2024 after attempting to display a drawing in a public space, not far from the presidential palace in Tehran. Over the past decade, she has been regularly monitored and harassed due to her art and activities opposing the repression of rights in Iran, especially those of women and children.

Previously jailed in 2014-16, and again for a short period last summer, Atena Farghadani risks coming to harm within the penal system. In 2023 she alleged an attempted poisoning. At the time of her arrest this year she reported that she suffered severe injuries from Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) personnel.

Artwork  by Atena Farghadani was recently exhibited in Norway, at the sixteenth Oslo Forum for Freedom (OFF) organized by the Human Rights Foundation, dedicated to “reclaiming democracy”. In the presence of human rights defenders from around the world, Atena Farghadani’s representative Mohammad Moghimi ensured that her voice was heard, a voice that is both brave and righteous, and is targeted because she dares to defy oppression and injustice in her country.

Our organizations call for her immediate release and that she be returned to her family unharmed.

Support for Burmese cartoonists in exile by press cartoonists from the Cartooning for Peace network

The “Cartooning for Myanmar” project, set up by Info Birmanie and Visual Rebellion and supported by the City of Paris, brings together 7 Burmese cartoonists in exile who are determined to bear witness to what is happening in their country and to learn about press cartooning, by offering them the chance to get involved in a project to create an exhibition tracing the situation in Myanmar since the military coup of 1 February 2021 through press cartoons.

Cartooning for Peace has been asked to explore the possibilities of linking press cartoonists from its network with these Burmese cartoonists, who are isolated and keen to exchange with the outside world, in order to help them build their skills.

With the support of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Cartooning for Peace is taking part in this project by offering capacity-building sessions (drawing/journalistic approach) to 7 Burmese cartoonists in exile. Led by Filipino cartoonist Zach and Taiwanese cartoonist Stellina, the sessions take place online over a 6-month period. They cover topics such as the tools of a press cartoonist, press cartoonist as a journalist, artist and humorist, the partnership relationship with a media outlet, the framework of freedom of expression and existing support and protection mechanisms, etc. The aim of these sessions is to break down isolation, support creativity and encourage cartoonists to bear witness through press cartoons. Zach and Stellina will monitor the progress of the cartoons produced by the Burmese cartoonists throughout the project (see below).

Finally, from the Cartooning for Peace network, Paresh (India), Wilcox (Australia), Kak (France), President of the organisation, Tjeerd Royaards (Netherlands) and Emanuele Del Rosso (Italy), share their experience as professional cartoonists.

Myanmar, a country that has endured decades of dictatorship since its independence in 1948, has a long tradition of press cartoons. In the aftermath of the military coup of 1 February 2021, painting and drawing became powerful means of expression against the junta, to bear witness to a repression that could no longer be shown in images, as the media and the people photographed risked too much repression. Doesn’t press cartooning allow you to “shout to the world with a drawing”, as a young Burmese cartoonist put it? But how do you draw when you live under the yoke of the junta or have gone into exile in the face of the brutality of a regime that kills, destroys and isolates?

Throughout the sessions, Cartooning for Peace aims to support the creativity of Burmese cartoonists and encourage them to use press cartoons to bear witness to what they wish to express. The aim is to enable these young cartoonists to bear witness, to inform about what is happening in Myanmar and to challenge the international community through press cartoons, bypassing censorship and bans.

// posted by humorgrafe @ 4:48 PM