CARTOONISTS RIGHTS NETWORK INTERNATIONAL

Algeria: cartoonist Nime charged with “insulting the state”

Share

Abdelhamid Amine, known by the pen-name Nime, was arrested in Oran, Algeria amid a wider crackdown prior to next week’s presidential elections.

Organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported on the increase in police action against activists, protestors and others as Algeria prepares to elect a new leader, delayed since April when President Bouteflika suddenly resigned and polling was postponed.

Nime was picked up by police in the city of Oran on November 26th. Today, December 5th, charges were brought on “insult to the state and to representative figures of the state”. His new status as a criminally accused individual was confirmed by a statement from colleagues at the Creature design studio, where Nime was arrested.

COMMUNIQUE —–Benabdelhamid Amine, dit Nime, a été jugé aujourd'hui'hui au tribunal de Cité Djamel à Oran. Le…

Posted by Creature on Thursday, December 5, 2019

A verdict is expected on December 11th, the day before the election, and social media users in the area say a sentence of 18 months in prison has been requested by prosecutors. The charges apparently arise from a series of four cartoons posted on Nime’s blog between November 3rd and 14th, although no specific cartoon has been cited in court.

Unsurprisingly, the Francophonic and Arabic-speaking cartooning fraternities have been quick to respond to Nime’s plight, posting cartoons in solidarity on social media. Some have taken Nime’s allusion to Cinderella in the first of his four cartoons as their cue, others have used his distinctive silhouette avatar.

We await the outcome of next week’s court proceedings in Oran with acute interest.

 To Report a Cartoonist in Danger  Email Cartoonists Rights Network

CRNI at second Cartooning Global Forum

Share

The second Cartooning Global Forum / États Généraux du Dessin de Presse / المنتدى العام لرسوم الصحف took place at locations around Paris October 1st through 3rd and once again CRNI had a leadership role in the event.

For the second year running Cartoonists Rights Network International has assisted in the effort to bring together cartoonists, the organisations that represent them and experts from affiliated fields together for a working day where best practice can be shared and the future of our profession and art form discussed, all as we make efforts to persevere through unprecedented hostility from authoritarian regimes and dwindling interest from increasingly risk-averse and cash-strapped news media.

Cartooning Global Forum – 2019

This year and ambitious three-day programme was mounted. To begin, cartoonists and educators spent an afternoon discussing freedom of expression and the significance of dessin de presse with students from multiple Parisian schools. We were hosted by the Mairie de Paris at the Hôtel de Ville and the diplomas given at the end of the day’s activities were co-signed by the mayor Anne Hidalgo as well as Serge Barbet, director of CLEMI the French government’s media literacy organisation, and the main organisers on the forum’s steering committee.

  • Students from schools around Paris attended the first day of the CGF.
  • CRNI’s acting executive director Terry Anderson and our representative in Australia Cathy Wilcox were among those leading the discussion.
  • Cartoonists such as Mohamed Saadani demonstrated techniques.
  • Students had the opportunity to view displays of cartoons with context provide by experts like Alain Schott.

The second day was the main working session at Mairie Quatre Paris with warm welcoming words from the 4th arrondissement’s mayor Ariel Weil. Over one hundred delegates from twenty nations participated in two grand roundtable discussions focusing on education and peace & justice (see below). As ever there were multiple and strident commitments made to the principles of freedom of expression and resistance to censorship in all its forms. Never the less, multiple participants stated concerns about “hate speech” and bad actors who utilise cartoons to what might be regarded as nefarious ends. This indicates that our shared conversation is moving on to a new phase, where many cartoonists are perhaps ready to recognise that, in the words of our dear friend Zunar, talent is a responsibility.

  • Grand roundtable discussions are at heart of the Cartooning Global Forum
  • Colleagues such as Dr Arun Inamdar, Indian Institute of Technology travelled from around the world to participate.
  • CRNI is currently an Index on Censorship Fellow; the organisation was represented by their head of advocacy, Joy Hyvarinen.
  • Terry Anderson and colleagues from the CGF international committee, Emad Hajjaj, Carol Isaacs, Martine Marineau and Daryl Cagle.

At the conclusion of the day it was announced that going forward the CGF’s online material will be provided in Arabic as well as French and English. This is a very welcome addition and we are appreciative of the great effort put in by Abdellah Bennabbou and Mohamad Saadani of the Moroccan Association of Cartoonists to achieve this.

  • A focus on the preservation and marketing of cartoons at the BnF Francois Mitterrand.
  • Cartoons by PX Molina (Nicaragua) are installed at the Sorbonne university.
  • Cartoons by Badiucao (China) are installed at the Sorbonne university.
  • Terry Anderson and Yann Tomas, Sorbonne Art Gallery

The third and final day was split between the Bibliotéque National de France where an absorbing discussion concerning the preservation and marketing of cartoons was convened and the Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne law faculty where we were very privileged to have been given space in which to mount a display of work by the two most recent Courage in Cartooning Award winners, PX Molina and Badiucao.

The tangible outcome of these forums is a set of recommendations made with reference to several of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. In this way, it is hoped that our work can more readily dovetail with that undertaken by governmental agencies, academic and cultural institutions, NGOs and other professional associations around the world. These recommendations are a work in progress and will be revised each year. 2018’s edition is still available with the the next to come very soon.

We are enormously grateful to all members of the CGF’s steering and international committees and most especially Nicolas Jacquette & Jérôme Liniger (directors, Studio Irresistible) and Chloé Verlhac-Tignous (director of publishing, Editions Les Petites Teignes). We look forward to working with them again next fall.

 To Report a Cartoonist in Danger  Email Cartoonists Rights Network

Badiucao wins CRNI’s Courage in Cartooning Award 2019

Share

CRNI announces its annual prize, now dubbed the Robert Russell Courage in Cartooning Award.

Badiucao unmasked
Badiucao, China’s Artful Dissident

In recognition of his bold defiance and courageous decision to remove the literal mask of anonymity under which he has worked for a decade, Cartoonists Rights Network International bestows its award for 2019 to the Chinese dissident, campaigner and visual artist Badiucao.

Earlier this year we wrote about China’s Artful Dissident, the documentary film made by Danny Ben-Moshe and broadcast on ABC in Australia, which covers the period prior to Badiucao’s first major exhibition of work in Hong Kong. The show was set to proceed in November last year but was cancelled at the last moment when it became apparent that Badiucao’s family in China were being harassed by police. This meant that the CCP had successfully discerned Badiucao’s true identity and led to many months in which the artist withdrew completely from public life.

In April 2019 China’s Artful Dissident aired with a coda in which Badiucao removed his mask. This heralded his return to artistic practice and was soon followed with a number of public artworks as well as online cartoons to mark the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Since then, the whole world’s attention has been galvanised by the massive public protests in Hong Kong over extradition to China, and the horrifying brutality with which police – and, apparently, organised criminals – have cracked down on demonstrators. Badiucao has been energised by the campaign and created cartoon after cartoon, variously inspired by the “Lennon Wall”, the accoutrements that protestors have carried with them to protect themselves from tear gas and other crowd control measures, and most of all the persona of the city’s chief executive Carrie Lam. Lam recently announced the controversial bill on extradition that sparked the unrest will be fully abandoned from consideration.

Like an increasing number of cartoonists from whom we receive testimony, Badiucao has had cause to complain about his work being removed from social media for supposed violations of rules pertaining to content while at the same time receiving threats of violence via those same platforms. The number of abusive messages aimed at Badiucao have spiked this year, perhaps unsurprisingly given his higher profile.

Badiucao has also been actively engaged in the debate that has arisen in his adopted nation of Australia, where visiting Chinese students in particular have clashed with those expressing their solidarity with the protesters in Hong Kong. He has publicly asked Twitter to add a “Tank Man” emoji to their platform in time for next year’s Tiananmen anniversary and most recently unveiled a flag design inspired by the post-it note covered “Lennon Wall”, intended to express a clean break with the past and the hope of a democratic Hong Kong.

Please note that this beautiful flag design, like a great many of Badiucao’s past cartoons and graphics, is available for download free of charge for use by activists and campaigners everywhere.

“Badiucao is an exemplary cartoonist of courage. He was specifically targeted by a censorious regime — in person, online and, most disturbingly of all, via pressure applied to family members — but has persevered and removed the leverage his adversaries thought they could exploit by actively dismantling the anonymity they assumed he cherished most.
Thankfully Badiucao is an Australian resident and so cannot be abused as readily as some other cartoonists seized by China in recent years, most notably Jiang Yefei and Zhang Dongning, both of whom have been arrested, criminalised and essentially disappeared. However he is not immune and believes he has been followed, hacked and even had his home invaded by agents of the state. As China celebrates the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic it’s worth contemplating how far they have come in terms of economic development and international relations, weighed against the minimal progress made on fundamental and individual freedoms.
Reporters Sans Frontieres places China 177th of 180 nations on its Press Freedom Index. Committee to Protect Journalists places it 5th in its Top 10 Most Censored Countries. It is ironic that so many modern Chinese citizens enjoy the trappings of middle-class life — abundant consumer goods, lavish weddings, pampered pets and much foreign travel — while they are denied the simple act of expressing dissatisfaction with their government. China is mighty. It has nothing to lose and everything to gain by loosening its grip on discourse.”

Terry Anderson, Acting Executive Director, CRNI

Cartoons by Badiucao as well as the previous Courage in Cartooning Award winner PX Molina are on display at the Sorbonne Art Gallery, Sorbonne University, Paris as part of the Cartooning Global Forum this week and tomorrow evening he is the guest of our friends Index on Censorship at a special screening of China’s Artful Dissident in London along with the documentarian Danny Ben-Moshe and introduced by cartoonist Martin Rowson.

Badiucao will receive our Courage in Cartooning Award later in the year; more details to be announced nearer the time.

 To Report a Cartoonist in Danger  Email Cartoonists Rights Network

Robert Russell retires, award named in his honor

Share

After twenty years at the helm CRNI’s founder and director Dr Robert Russell steps down from leadership of our organization.

Portrait of Cartoonists Rights Network International founder and outgoing ezwcruive director Dr Robert "Bro" Russell by Palestinian cartoonist Mohammad Saba'aneh.
“Bro” Russell portrait by Mohammad Saba’aneh

“Bro” Russell’s lifelong commitment to human rights and dignity began as a Peace Corps volunteer in the sixties. He went on to spend over two decades in Africa and Asia as a consultant in institutional development and humanitarian assistance. In 2012 the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) presented him with their Ink Bottle Award for an outstanding contribution to the profession of editorial cartooning. Tributes have been paid once in the same setting this weekend as the retirement of CRNI’s founder and long-serving director was announced at the AAEC convention in Columbus, OH.

CRNI was recognised for its campaigning work earlier this year at Index On Censorship’s Freedom of Expression Awards. The prize itself, a cartoon by Egypt’s Doaa Eladl was presented to Dr Russell by his deputy director Terry Anderson. It was also announced that in acknowledgment of his decades of hard work and considerable sacrifice in the face of difficult circumstances the CRNI board will rename our own annual award and so will soon present the Robert Russell Courage in Cartooning Award to a cartoonist who has exhibited exemplary resolve over the past year. Meanwhile we won’t be losing Bro’s expertise as he will serve as a member of our board of directors henceforth and for as long as he wishes.

The evening proved to be successful one for multiple CRNI leaders. Our former president Kevin “KAL” Kallaugher won AAEC’s Rex Babin Memorial Award for local press cartoons and long-time advisor Ann Telnaes received the Ink Bottle Award for her sterling work in the promotion of cartooning, most recently her co-curation of a major exhibit about the First Amendment still running at The Billy Ireland Library & Museum. Blogger Mike Peterson has a good round up of the night as well as the panel on free speech issues we presented earlier in the convention schedule.

“Cartoonists have so much imagination. I ask those reading this to use it for a moment and contemplate the unthinkably fearful horror of hearing a cell door lock behind you, undeserved retribution for the simple patriotic act of dissent.

 Now, try and imagine the joyful flood of relief as it creaks open one day, inviting light, freedom and hope.

I know you all join me in thanking Robert Russell for his years-long dedication to making that latter scenario a reality.”

Joel Pett, President, CRNI

Members of CRNI’s extended family — board members and advisors past and present, Courage Award winners and other client cartoonists — sent their best wishes by video…

Full remarks from the evening are in the video below…

“Earlier this year I had the opportunity to catch up with several cartoonists whose past woes have been covered by CRNI, all of them settled and pursuing new careers in various countries within the EU. I was speaking with Arifur Rahman, once a prisoner in Bangladesh and now thriving in Norway, who described his time in isolation and said, only half-jokingly, that he prayed daily; God gave no answer but Bro Russell did! I think Arifur’s tale would resonate with many others around the globe whose troubles were shared and in ways big and small alleviated thanks to Bro and the network he’s built.”

Terry Anderson, Deputy Executive Director, CRNI

Naturally this change marks a significant milestone in CRNI’s journey but friends and colleagues can rest assured we will continue to work toward the same goals, dedicated to the defence of cartoonists’ freedom of expression. Of course we can always use more support and so if you are in a position to volunteer as a regional representative, join our board of directors or become a donor we want to hear from you.

And you will hear more from us in the days ahead as we announce the recipient of our newly-named award.

 To Report a Cartoonist in Danger  Email Cartoonists Rights Network

Musa Kart is free

Share

After a Supreme Court of Appeals decision overturned his conviction, cartoonist Musa Kart has been released from Kandıra Prison.

Musa Kart makes a statement alongside colleagues from Cumhuriyet newspaper, all released from Kandıra Prison September 12th 2019
Musa Kart makes a statement alongside colleagues from Cumhuriyet newspaper, all released from Kandıra Prison September 12th 2019

CRNI, Association Cartooning For Peace and Swiss Foundation Cartooning For Peace are relieved, gratified and overjoyed to hear that Musa Kart has been released from prison after a Supreme Court of Appeals decision overturned his criminal conviction for “support of a terrorist organisation without being a member”. The process of his acquittal is not yet fully complete — the original criminal court must formally quash their verdict — but in effect his innocence has been restored in the eyes of the law.

Kart, along with multiple colleagues from the Cumhuriyet newspaper was arrested in 2016, part of the widespread and severe crack-down on media freedom that occurred in Turkey in the aftermath of that summer’s failed coup. He was detained for nine months pre-trial, wholly illegally, and was finally able to hear the charges against him in court in the summer of 2017.

His spirited, humorous opening statement was one of the most eloquent accounts of cartooning’s power and importance ever composed. Despite having escaped the wrath of President Erdoğan in two prior trials he was ultimately convicted. The most ludicrous detail of the prosecution depended not upon the content of his cartoons but his choice of travel agent.

After every avenue of appeal was exhausted Musa Kart and five former staff from Cumhuriyet surrendered to custody voluntarily in April this year.

He should never have spent a single day in prison but we are pleased he has been spared the majority of his official custodial sentence. In total he has endured almost three years of unimaginable duress.

“It is difficult to live in countries that have lost their sense of humor but it’s even harder to live in countries where everything is satirical. Unfortunately we are passing through a period in which everything is like a bad joke. It can be demonstrated in our case file. In modern lawful states people are first tried and then penalized. For us, it was the exact opposite. Only after detention for nine months in Silivri [prison] were we able to appear before a judge. So we were sentenced in advance. We have not abandoned our demand for proper application of law. We insist on this. After almost fourteen months in prison we’re free now, but we have gathered many stories of unjust treatment and victimisation. We left behind people urgently awaiting justice. Everyone knows that journalists have been thrown into prison to create a climate of fear. We want it to be shown now that this is not the right way. Let it be known and seen that prisons neither wipe away our smile nor weaken our stand.”

Musa Kart, speaking immediately after release from Kandıra prison.

“CRNI first acknowledged Musa Kart’s bravery in 2005, when then Prime Minister Erdoğan took umbrage at his depiction in Musa’s cartoons. It was the beginning of a vendetta, ultimately given full license by the circumstances of the coup attempt and the extra powers afforded to the presidency in recent years. We’re delighted that the Supreme Court has seen through the pathetic prosecution that sought to portray Musa as a danger to Turkey. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Terry Anderson, Deputy Executive Director, Cartoonists Rights Network International

Both organisations also welcome the wider repercussions of this decision. Surely all state prosecutions of media workers and rights defenders in Turkey, which number in their hundreds, are now open to question. For too long the country has held the dubious honorific of World’s Biggest Jailer of Journalists. Every effort must now be made to secure the freedom of those still imprisoned or awaiting trial.

We endorse the findings of the substantial IPI-led international press-freedom mission to Turkey last week; the crisis is far from over. In particular we are concerned about Erol Önderoğlu and his co-defendants, needlessly dragged back to court after their acquittal on charges pertaining to the incitement of terrorism and criminality.

 To Report a Cartoonist in Danger  Email Cartoonists Rights Network

PX Molina safe, well & settled at last

Share

The CRNI Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award winner 2018 is now an artist in residence in Ithaca, NY.

Pedro X Molina - cartoonist
Pedro X Molina, Nicaraguan cartoonist is the recipient of CRNI’s Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award in 2018 & a Maria Moors Cabot Prize in 2019.

In the final weeks of 2018 we wrote about the pressure Pedro X Molina was working under as the Ortega regime cracked down on civil protests and critical media outlets, reaching a crescendo with police raids at the Confidencial news outlet. Pedro had cause to fear imminent detention and so took the hard decision to leave his home.

Thanks to the wonderful people at ICORN, he very rapidly found safe haven and we can now confirm that he is the seventh resident artist of Ithaca City of Asylum (ICOA) and has a new position as a visiting international scholar in the Ithaca College Honors Program. Pedro is the first cartoonist to be hosted by ICOA and also their first resident from Latin America.

We hope Pedro’s career is now able to fully resume, especially after receiving a Maria Moors Cabot Prize earlier this year. He will join us as a panelist at our event at Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, September 28th and share more about his recent experiences.

Cartoons by Pedro as well as our next Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award winner (to be announced) will be displayed at the Sorbonne Art Gallery, Sorbonne University, Paris as part of the Cartooning Global Forum in October.

 To Report a Cartoonist in Danger  Email Cartoonists Rights Network

#IndexAwards2019 winner in “Campaigning” category

A proud partner in the Cartooning Global Forum

Thanks to our founder & retiring director, Dr Robert Russell

Support CRNI via Paypal

or while shopping on Amazon

Categories

GDPR

Visitors to this site based in the EU – please be aware this site uses Cookies. Full details in our Privacy Policy.