Recent Press Releases & News

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.

Signatories:

Africartoons
Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) Association of Canadian Cartoonists Cartooning for Peace
Cartoon Movement
Cartoonists Rights
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Forum for Humor and the Law Freedom Cartoonists Foundation Freemuse
Index on Censorship
Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation

Press contact : Chloe Guerif chloe.guerif@cartooningforpeace.org +33 (0)7 49 33 55 86

The Freedom Cartoonists Foundation and the City of Geneva announce the winners of the 2024
Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award: Rachita Taneja of India, and Zunzi of Hong Kong

Rachita Taneja, India (left) and Zunzi, Honk Kong (right)

Rachita Taneja, India

On her popular online webcomic Sanitary Panels, the young Indian cartoonist Rachita Taneja draws chronicles of daily life in India. She is under the threat of a prison sentence following a complaint lodged by a member of the nationalist party in power in India. She is attacked for her critical cartoons about patriarchy, intolerance, and authoritarianism. Her cartoons on the ban on the hijab in schools gave rise in 2022 to new threats. India ranks 161 on 180 countries according to RSF Press Freedom Index.

Zunzi, Honk Kong

In May 2023, Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao dismissed Zunzi, its regular cartoonist since 1983. The decision came after months of criticism of Zunzi by officials since Beijing adopted in 2020 National Security Laws that have reshaped Hong Kong’s arts, culture, and the media. His cartoons were denounced by officials for their “sanctimonious humour that damages Hong Kong’s image” and called “ too distorting and unethical ”. Hong Kong ranks 140 on 180 countries on RSF Press Freedom Index.

Press release from the European Cartoon Award — From April 29 to June 2, 2024, editorial cartoonists will be able to submit their work for the fifth edition of the European Cartoon Award. Submitted cartoons must have had their first publication date between June 2, 2023, and June 2, 2024, with a media outlet from a country within the Council of Europe, plus Belarus, and Russia.

Founded in 2019, by the European Press Prize and Studio Europa Maastricht, the European Cartoon Award has one of the highest monetary prizes for cartoonists, granting its winner a prize of 10,000 euros.

The cartoons can be submitted via this link: https://europeancartoonaward.com/

Translation: «Pandemic sex… – At least I didn’t lose my taste and smell…»

Zehra Ömeroğlu faces a sentence ranging from 6 months to 3 years’ imprisonment, as well as the payment of a fine, for a cartoon on the symptoms of Covid-19 published on 25 November 2020 in the Turkish humor magazine Leman. Her situation is recorded on the Council of Europe’s Platform for the Safety of Journalists.

On 8 March 2024, Türkiye’s Board for the Protection of Minors from Obscene Publications («Muzır Neşriyat Kurulu») concluded that the cartoon «offends public decency and modesty and is contrary to general morality», arguing that the cartoonist «arouses and exploits sexual desires». These conclusions pave the way for her trial, which has been postponed four times since her first appearance in court in May 2021. Even though her lawyer contests the findings, as Turkish law allows, the hearing will go ahead on 16 April, where the likelihood of a conviction is increased on the basis of the Board’s conclusions.

Zehra Ömeroğlu works for local media aiming to liberate women’s voices. Her cartoons have appeared in numerous publications, in Türkiye and abroad, and she has had three books of her works published. She likes to focus on women’s rights, taboos and human psychology. These criminal proceedings have plunged her into deep despair, while severely restricting her professional prospects.

In an interview conducted in October 2022, Zehra Ömeroğlu said: «I’m a humorist and the aim of my work is to look at everyday problems from a different angle, with a lighter touch so that we can laugh about them together. But even such a harmless drawing can be subjected to severe judgement. The readers didn’t think that my drawing could be punished.»

Although Türkiye is bound to protect freedom of expression, guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and by its own Constitution, which also guarantees freedom of the press and the free dissemination of art, the country is ranked 165/180 in the Reporters without borders World Press Freedom Index 2023.

Determined to defend Zehra Ömeroğlu, our organizations express their full solidarity with her in the face of the trial, the outcome of which will be a true marker of the scale of the attacks on freedom of expression, and of the space allocated to women’s freedom of expression and feminist artistic production in Türkiye.

With the special presence of Dmitry Muratov, Nobel Peace Prize, Patrick Forbes, director, and Chappatte

The Geneva Graduate Institute, the Kofi Annan Foundation and Freedom Cartoonists Foundation hosted a screening of the documentary “The Price of Truth” about the life of Dmitry Muratov. Russian journalist, television presenter and the editor-in-chief of the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, Muratov was awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Maria Ressa for “their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace”. On 1 September 2023, Muratov was declared by the Russian authorities to be a “foreign agent”. 

Dmitry Muratov was present at the event. 

The film screening was followed by a discussion with Dmitry Muratov, film director Patrick Forbes, and Chappatte, president of the Freedom Cartoonists Foundation, Moderated by Corinne Momal-Vanian, Executive Director, Kofi Annan Foundation.

By Patrick Chappatte, in “Le Temps”
Research and documentation : Freedom Cartoonists

At the end of April, one of my cartoons published in German magazine Der Spiegel caused quite a stir in India. Tweets from ministers, a media craze, an embarrassed German ambassador; a simple cartoon suddenly became a geopolitical affair. But this furor was just part of a bigger story – the Modi government’s growing intolerance of the country’s humorists and cartoonists.

“World population: India overtakes China”. On April 22, this headline inspired the theme of my cartoon for Der Spiegel – a weekly featuresince 2018. I depicted a cheerful, overcrowded Indian train overtaking a somewhat gloomy Chinese bullet train. Unfortunately, my train collided with some sacred cows, among them Indian nationalist pride, in fierce competition with China, and the place railroads seem to hold in the country’s national psyche.

The day after publication, the Indian information minister’s senior adviser lit the fuse on Twitter: “Hey Germany, this is outrageously racist!”… Read the full article on Chappatte’s website

According to her lawyer, Mohammad Moghimi: “Since her release in 20161, intelligence and security agents have harassed her many times, including prevention from employment, tapping her phone and disturbing her private life. These cases have caused her to protest against the agencies responsible and that has become the basis for her detention.”

It was Mr Moghimi who on June 8th and via Twitter confirmed her arrest after a summons to the courthouse at Evin Prison. The next day he further stated: “A bail in the amount of [$4,200] has been issued for my client Atena Farghdani, and she refused to accept the bail with the argument that she has not committed a crime and that her summons and charges are illegal and arbitrary, and for this reason, she was transferred to [the Qarchak Prison for women, outside Tehran].

From a trusted source we have learned the charges articulated so far relate to disturbance of the public order. After an absence of some three years and three months, Ms Farghadani took to her Instagram account last week and prior to her court summons had posted images of a new coloured pencil drawing. Despite much speculation online, at this time we have no reason to believe she was arrested because of this social media post.

Ms Farghadani was awarded the Courage in Cartooning Award by Cartoonists Rights in 2015, after a 2014 drawing posted to Facebook and depicting parliamentarians as animals, an objection to laws restricting women’s reproductive choices, led to a series of criminal charges including “spreading propaganda against the system”, “insulting members of parliament through paintings”, “gathering and colluding against national security”, “insulting the President”, and “insulting prison officials”.

After eighteen months in prison, all sentences were commuted or reduced, save one; over the following four years of her life Farghadani could have gone to prison again at any time under a suspended sentence of “insulting the Iranian Supreme Leader”.

Whilst a prisoner Ms Farghadani was severely abused and subjected to virginity and pregnancy tests against her will, practices that are designated torture by international human rights standards. She spent a period on hunger strike and suffered a heart attack. After a handshake between herself and Mr Moghimi she faced additional criminal charges of “’illicit sexual relations falling short of adultery”.

Hence, now that the same authorities have Ms Farghadani in custody again, there is good cause to fear escalation and further charges to come, as well as dire mistreatment.

In our view, Atena Farghadani is a prisoner of conscience, there is no justification for her detention, and we demand her immediate and unconditional release.

A talented folk musician and sculptor, Abecor’s daily cartoons are clear in their intention and fearless, taking aim at societal problems and powerful people in equal measure. The government of Bolivia is often criticised by human rights and free expression organizations.

Bolivia ranks 117 out of 180 nations in the 2023 Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index, which further warns that “attacks, threats, censorship, and harassment by the government and pro-government forces constantly violate press freedom. Attacks against journalists, especially by the police, are becoming increasingly frequent”.  

Little wonder Abecor’s cartoons are so popular and his postings on all major social platforms bear testimony to their impact. This, no doubt, is what has brought about the troubles that have visited him in recent years.

In August 2021, he pictured the blue suited attorney general Wilfredo Chávez in free-fall while declaring that the Organization of American States (OEA in Spanish) had not audited the electoral results. Blue is the color of the ruling political party MAS. 

After posting the cartoon he received the following response via Instagram: “You are crazy about the colour blue Abecor. Focus on something else or you’ll be offered blue flowers when you die”. A brazen, public death threat, empowered by social media’s promotion of unaccountability through anonymity.

Refusing to be intimidated, Abecor featured the attorney general in another cartoon just two months later. Here, he is seen – dressed in blue again – standing in front of the State Attorney General’s Office which is styled as a blue circus tent. This time the attorney general is comically depicted as an illusionist pulling a rabbit from a hat. The rabbit is holding an upside-down sign that ironically declares “No Fraud”; another reference to the disputed elections.

This time the death threat, emanating from the same anonymised account, was as swift and sinister, yet even more blatant: “Your end is near, prepare to go underground Abecor, even without your moustache you will not be able to camouflage yourself”. As a precaution, the cartoonist had shaved in the recent past and the accurate observation made plain this was a local and therefore credible threat.

Shortly afterwards, Abecor and his family began noticing that they were being followed and photographed by suspicious persons, and threats mentioning family were received via Facebook. Earlier this year a piece of abject disinformation was distributed via Twitter by AG Chávez, in which a photo was said to show the cartoonist at a meal with a person wanted for participating in the massacres that followed the ousting of the (previous) Morales government.

Abecor laments; “I have received reviews both good and bad, yet never thought that this would reach such extremes, in terms of threats. If before I could easily go about the streets, now I go only with trepidation. This government gives rise to ‘digital guerrillas’ whose main objective is to create false accounts on social networks – to attack, insult, denigrate, and threaten anyone whose opinions differ from government policy. Bizarre to say, they receive a salary from our taxes.”

Last week CARTOONISTS RIGHTS presented the 2023 Robert Russell Courage in Cartooning Award to Abecor at a private ceremony, held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

Abecor is the 40th cartoonist that the organization was recognised with an award. The last recipient from the Americas was Nicaraguan Pedro X. Molina in 2018, and he was on hand in Washington to congratulate his colleague.

The following day, Abecor was the honored guest at a special panel discussion event hosted at the Library of Congress. Cartoonists Rights’ Executive Director Terry Anderson gave a keynote address on the defence of cartoonists’ freedom of expression, and on the panel where local cartoonists Kevin “KAL” Kallaugher and Alexandra Bowman. Expert opinion on threats to all media workers and journalists was provided by Gabe Rottman, Technology and Press Freedom Project Director for Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. The panel was moderated by Roslyn Mazer, Amicus Counsel to the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists in Hustler Magazine v. Falwell.

Please note a video presentation of the entire event will be made available via the LOC website at a later date.

With the support of Página Siete, national and international institutions, and regular people who have shown their solidarity, Abecor stands resolute. “I want to keep the pencil sharp. I want to keep drawing about the happenings of the time. Because I believe that most important, above all, is freedom of expression.”  

CARTOONISTS RIGHTS extends its thanks to:

• The FREEDOM CARTOONISTS Foundation, our partner in awards-giving
• The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC), our presentation event sponsor
• Staff at the National Press Club and Library of Congress, most especially Sara Duke, curator of Popular and Applied Graphic Art, Prints and Photographs Division