Iranian journalist-blogger Omid Memarian was among three human rights activists to be honoured with the Human Rights Defender award in New York on Tuesday. Memarian embodies the new generation of human rights defenders who are pushing the boundaries of freedom of expression in Iran by using the Internet to spread ideas.
The three awardees for 2005 illustrate the limits of freedom of expression in the Middle East, the massive "ethnic cleansing" and injustice in Darfur, Sudan, and the plight of HIV/AIDS affected women in Africa. Human Rights Watch's two other global rights defender awardees for the year are Salih Mahmoud Osman, a lawyer and human rights activist from Darfur, and Beatrice Were, an advocate for the rights of women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Uganda.
"Our 2005 honorees exemplify the highest ideals of the human rights cause � courage, objectivity, and an unflinching commitment to justice," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "They work relentlessly, often in dangerous environments, to bring abuses to light and to fight to preserve human rights in their regions."
Memarian worked as a journalist for reformist newspapers until the Iranian government cracked down on the Press and shuttered most of the independent papers. Refusing to admit defeat, Memarian shifted to the Internet, pioneering a new medium of human rights reporting. His weblog, memarian.info, is dedicated to social, cultural and civil society issues in Iran.
"Omid Memarian represents the generation of human rights defenders in Iran who came of age during the last decade of promised reforms," said Hadi Ghaemi, Iran researcher with Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa division. "As an insightful and popular commentator, he represents a threat to the current hardliners who are rolling back basic human rights in Iran."
As a result of his public defence of human rights, Memarian was arrested along with more than 20 other bloggers in October 2004. He was detained in solitary confinement, tortured repeatedly, and forced to make false confessions. Following protests from the international community, Memarian was released in December 2004.
"After the reformist press was crushed, blogs have become one of the last remaining outlets for free expression in Iran," said Ghaemi.
Human Rights Watch worked closely with his colleagues to campaign for his release. Memarian has worked with Human Rights Watch to expose arbitrary detentions, torture and mistreatment of prisoners in Iran at great personal risk.
In recent years, Human Rights Watch has documented the Iranian government's moves to silence Internet and blog communications. Human Rights Watch said that the Iranian government's use of torture in detention has effectively destroyed the country's independent media.
"Omid has been an outspoken advocate of freedom of the press and democratic reforms even after he was detained and tortured by security forces in the past year," said Ghaemi. "Human Rights Watch is honouring Omid to show solidarity with all the writers and activists across the Middle East who are using the web to break down government controls on human rights information and free expression."
