Blog Archives

Appeal to the United Nations to protect journalists

6/23/2016

Ambassador Rosemary McCarney meets with Mohamed Fahmy in Geneva.

On June 23-25, 2016, Mohamed Fahmy is representing the Fahmy Foundation at the United Nations in Geneva.

As part of this visit, a letter from the Fahmy Foundation and the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression's President Alice Klein formally requesting the appointment of a UN Special Representative for the Safety of Journalists was presented to Ambassador Rosemary McCarney.

The need for a Special Representative is critical as threats to journalists increase around the world. According to Reporters Sans Frontieres, 787 journalists and media professionals were killed on the job in the last 10 years, including 77 in 2015.

The Fahmy Foundation has joined a worldwide coalition of NGOs, media outlets, and journalists by supporting the initiative for the creation of a Special Representative to the United Nations Secretary General for the safety of journalists.

According to Reporters Sans Frontieres, this “is an urgent issue for all those who want to end violence against reporters and defend access to information around the world”.

This coalition is urging the United Nations and its Member States to give this position the “political weight, capacity for rapid action and legitimacy” to coordinate UN efforts for the safety of journalists. The goal is to enforce international law and reduce the number of journalists killed every year.

In addition to presenting this initiative, Mohamed Fahmy also discussed the Fahmy Foundation's Protection Charter with Ambassador McCarney.

Support this initiative & tweet: #ProtectJournalists

Using social media to build support for human rights campaigns

6/22/2016

Guest post by Cecilia Greyson

A strong online presence is an essential component of any human rights campaign, and is critical to raise awareness, build support, and encourage action from political leaders.

In 2013 and 2015, I worked on two human rights campaigns, and used social media and online content creation to help build networks and support.

#FreeTarekandJohn was an international campaign to help free my brother (filmmaker John Greyson) and his colleague (Dr. Tarek Loubani) when they were detained in Egypt in 2013. #HarperCallEgypt was a Canadian effort for journalist Mohamed Fahmy during his retrial in 2015.

With both campaigns, we used simple online strategies to create public support and awareness. The positive results included two national Twitter trends, significant media coverage, extensive support, and the release of all prisoners involved in the campaigns.

Here are a few of the strategies we used:

Website: Having a basic campaign website is a useful tool to help keep information centralized for the public. On our campaign websites, we posted news items, press releases, links to petitions and social media accounts, and regular updates on the case.
Press releases: Since we had access to the most up-to-date information, we issued our own press releases on a regular basis (and making sure that we were shaping the story as it hit the media, and not the other way around).
Media stories: We also made sure that media outlets were given access to useful information and interviews, and we worked collaboratively with reporters as much as possible to provide good material. We shared these media stories through social media as soon as they were published.
Social media updates: We shared updates from social media throughout our circles of supporters, making sure that everyone knew what was happening and how they could help. We also encouraged supporters to share information about the campaigns through social media.
Facebook groups: Facebook groups can be used in addition to a website, or can replace a website completely (although having both is ideal). We updated our Facebook groups regularly with calls to action, articles, updates, news items and photos.
Twitter hashtag: Having a specific hashtag for a campaign effort can be extremely useful, especially for networking through Twitter or Instagram. Remember to keep your hashtag relatively short, and double-check to ensure it hasn’t been used previously for another purpose.
Online petition: There are many options for setting up online petitions (including Change.org and Avaaz), and all are able to be shared easily through social media accounts. Petitions are still extremely useful as a way to engage supporters and to demonstrate support for a cause.

5 ways you can make a difference

6/14/2016

Our strength lies in working together to promote freedom of speech and human rights around the world. And we need your help!

Remember, even small actions count. From signing a petition to donating funds, you can help make a big difference in the lives of others. Make your voice heard and support journalists and prisoners of conscience today.

5 WAYS TO TAKE ACTION:

Sign your name: Visit our campaign pages to find links for petitions (online petitions are critical to show support and raise public awareness).

Share on social media: Share campaign links on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to raise awareness online (even a few quick tweets can have a profound effect!)

Learn about the campaigns: Read the campaign updates to learn more about each case (and follow us on Twitter and Facebook to learn about new initiatives and projects).

Volunteer your time: If you have time or energy to volunteer, consider sharing your skills with us. (And if you’re a writer, researcher or journalist, we’d love to hear from you too).

Donate to our work: Funds donated to our Emergency Fund go directly to help journalists and prisoners of conscience, helping provide necessary legal fees, travel expenses, and medical support.

Canadian professor imprisoned in Iran

6/12/2016

In June, Iranian authorities arrested 65-year-old Homa Hoodfar, a Canadian-Iranian dual citizen conducting academic research in Iran. A professor of anthropoolgy at Concordia, Homa has lived in Montreal for 30 years.

In February, Hoodfar travelled to Iran to start her research. In March, a day before she was due to leave for London, Revolutionary Guards raided her apartment and confiscated her passports. Since that raid, she has been repeatedly interrogated, but this is the first time she has been placed under arrest.

Global Affairs Canada has stated that they are aware of Hoodfar’s arrest. “Consular officials and Minister Dion have met with Dr Hoodfar’s family,” a spokesperson said. “We are working closely with our allies to best assist Dr Hoodfar.”

A news release issued by a family member says Hoodfar "was in Iran conducting historical and ethnographic research”. Family members have confirmed that Homa is being held in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison.

Human rights organizations, academics and activists have spoken out in support of Professor Hoodfar. Homa’s colleagues and students at Concordia University are also mobilizing to support her by setting up online campaign pages and a petition.

In a statement, Concordia President Alan Shepard said he is "profoundly concerned" by Hoodfar's imprisonment. "Dr. Hoodfar is a valued member of the Concordia community, having taught and conducted research here for many years," he said.

Fahmy Foundation founder Mohamed Fahmy spoke on CBC’s Power and Politics about Homa’s case, emphasizing the need for support from Canadians.

“We are extremely worried for [Homa’s] health,” Hoodfar’s sister said to the Guardian. “She suffers from a rare neurological illness; she often has very bad headaches.” Hoodfar does not have any immediate family in Iran and the Canadian embassy remains closed.

(Sources: The Guardian and CBC News)

Conference explores new direction for global reporting

6/3/2016

Journalists, academics and media experts are convening in Vancouver for the Re-Imagining Global Reporting conference (June 3-5, 2016). Focusing on three core issues, the conference will explore challenges, innovations and solutions related to reporting on global issues.

Fahmy Foundation co-founder Mohamed Fahmy will moderate one of the panels at the conference, discussing challenges within the current model of global journalism and how to engage audiences effectively with complex global issues.

The conference is presented by the Global Reporting Centre, a non-profit institute dedicated to highlighting “neglected stories” around the world. “Question the way we do what we do, and improve it”, notes institute founder Peter Klein in The Globe and Mail, referring to the motivation behind the Centre.

The Global Reporting Centre grew out of the successful student-led International Reporting Program at the UBC School of Journalism. Many of the projects produced through the GRC have won major media awards, and covered topics like e-waste, palliative health care and pharmaceuticals, and illegal logging.

Participants at the 2016 conference include notable journalists and scholars, including Joel Bakan, David Beers, Peter Klein, Kathryn Gretsinger, Brent & Craig Renaud, Taylor Owen, Shayla Harris and Borzou Daragahi.

Appeal to the United Nations to protect journalists

Using social media to build support for human rights campaigns

5 ways you can make a difference

Canadian professor imprisoned in Iran

Conference explores new direction for global reporting

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