Abstract
It is the human stories that make us determined to be a voice for the persecuted, says
Fifty years later, I regularly reflect on his words to remind myself that behind every heart-breaking story, behind every headline there is a person and a family that we are striving to support. That by shining a spotlight on their plight we are offering hope and that by commissioning those who are being censored by repressive regimes we are not just demonstrating our solidarity, but we are also providing a voice for the persecuted. I know that I must hold onto his words otherwise the news from Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Belarus and Myanmar over the summer would have broken me.
Many of us would have been moved to tears by the news in recent weeks. I am not sure I have ever felt more impotent than when I went to meet my local Afghani community, who were desperate for news of their families who are living in fear of Taliban reprisals. Their stories of women fleeing Taliban raids, of brothers who are in hiding, of parents who they can no longer get money to for food.
One of the men I met was truly desperate. His wife and four-month-old daughter are trapped in Kabul and he cannot get them out. When we met he was looking how to return to Afghanistan to be with them to protect them, knowing that he could be murdered on his he return. Being in the UK knowing that they were targets because of him was destroying him.
These are the stories behind the headlines. And they, like so many examples of the pages of this magazine, wish to be heard, want the world to know their stories, their struggles and their determination. These people, each one of them an inspiration, drive each one of us to be better, to want to do more, to try and help. Which is why Index on Censorship really exists, to bring hope – to demonstrate real solidarity and to make it clear, in as public a way as we can, that these people are not alone. That someone is listening, that someone cares.
And it is in this tradition that we have launched a new programme of work on the pages of the magazine today. This, our Climate of Fear special edition, is published in the days leading up to the COP26 global summit, a conference bringing together the leaders of nearly every nation state in an effort to halt the impact of climate change. It is all too easy for the debate on climate change to focus on the economic impact, on the geo-politics or on the global challenges we face. But the reality is that climate change and environmental disasters have a very human cost. The families that are forced to move, the drinking water that becomes unsafe, the crops that fail.
We assume that there is always a legal redress for these communities, but in too many cases the people fighting for justice are unable to access legal systems that are fit for purpose. Too many tyrants are dismissive of the challenges of climate change and are on the side of the polluters rather than their people. Which is why we’re delighted to be able to launch a new work programme, supported by the Clifford Chance Foundation. This project seeks to empower those who are working on environmental issues globally, by giving them a voice. It will provide a platform for these activists to share the struggles they are facing as a result of their work, including coordinated efforts to censor them. We will continue to cover this ahead of COP26 and beyond.
Climate change affects all of us, but the impact is not equal. Some of the most vulnerable in our global community bear the brunt of environmental failures. Indigenous people throughout the world are facing increasing obstacles to challenge the impact on their communities.
It is these people who need their stories told and Index will be a platform for them. We will also, with the support of the Clifford Chance Foundation, be publishing our first Index in over a decade, highlighting the regimes which are the worst offenders in efforts to restrict free expression related to environmental impact. This is a crucially important project and one that should have lasting impact and provide an evidence base to challenge those who seek to deny climate change.