On April 25, 2024, dozens of global free speech advocates joined us for the all-day event at the Italian Academy, Columbia University, New York City, and more than a thousand guests tuned in virtually. We celebrated CGFoE’s 10th anniversary – a decade of partnerships and significant achievements – and awarded the 2024 Global Freedom of Expression Prizes. UNESCO supported the event’s conference “Safeguarding Free Expression: The Role of Judicial Systems in Pivotal Times” through the Multi-Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists and the Global Media Defence Fund – we are grateful for that.

“Comparative law becomes even more significant, and it is here that the role of the CGFoE team is anchored in this entire decade and must be congratulated.” Karuna Nundy, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India, and international human rights lawyer

“During these 10 years, judges have been telling us how useful [CGFoE Case Law Database] is for them, particularly the availability in different languages. […] New issues like SLAPPs have been showing how important it is to keep this project going.” Guilherme Canela Godoi, Chief of the Section of Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists, Communication and Information Sector, UNESCO

CGFoE Team with the 2024 Prize Awardees and special guests on April 25, 2024. Photo credit: Jorge Calderón Gamboa

The day was full of highlights. From the opening speech of our Associate Director Dr. Hawley Johnson, who emphasized  international freedom of expression principles, to Aryeh Neier, President Emeritus of the Open Society Foundations, who spoke on the free speech challenges in the US and globally, to the stories – both personal and national – of authors Elena Kostyuchenko and Paul Caruana Galizia and Vivir Quintana singing in advocacy for the rights of journalists worldwide.  

Aryeh Neier, President Emeritus of the Open Society Foundations, spoke at the Opening Session of the conference co-chaired by UNESCO. Photo credit: Juan Manuel Ospina Sánchez/CGFoE

The day’s discussions critically examined the state of free speech and democracies around the world. The panelists reviewed freedom of expression victories and failures in regional courts and highlighted the most pressing threats to free speech – those of SLAPPs, artificial intelligence, the rise of authoritarianism, and the environmental crisis.

“We all know that freedom of expression is a right in itself – the right to receive, impart, share, and seek information and ideas. But it is also an enabling right for all other fundamental rights: right of political participation, right to vote, right to education, right to assembly. [Freedom of expression] is a right that is essential for us, human beings, to progress.” Mehdi Benchelah, UNESCO Senior Project Officer – Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists Section – UNESCO

Mehdi Benchelah, UNESCO, Alice Gardoll, Office of Amal Clooney, Sarah Peeters, Pan African Lawyers Union, and Eduardo Bertoni, American University Washington College of Law, participated in the First Panel titled “Breakthrough Verdicts: Legal Decisions Shaping the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.” Karuna Nundy of the Supreme Court of India joined virtually. Photo credit: Juan Manuel Ospina Sánchez/CGFoE

Sandra Coliver, Open Society Justice Initiative, Barbara Trionfi, Press Freedom and Journalism Expert, Jorge Calderón Gamboa, UN Program Harmony With Nature, and Mishi Choudhary, Virtru, took part in the Second Panel titled “Critical Legal Frontiers: Global Challenges to Freedom of Expression.” Nikolaus Forgo, University of Vienna, joined online. Photo credit: Juan Manuel Ospina Sánchez/CGFoE

Our Communications Specialist, Marija Šajkaš, sat down with prominent journalists and activists Elena Kostyuchenko, author of I Love Russia: Reporting from a Lost Country, and Paul Caruana Galizia, author of A Death in Malta: An Assassination and a Family’s Quest for Justice. They spoke about reporting in defiance of fear and about libel suits against journalists, propaganda, and censorship. 

“You know when a car is driving, and tires are touching the ground. There is this special force that makes them touch the ground. We [journalists] are this special force. We make people attached to reality.” Elena Kostyuchenko, Russian journalist and activist 

“In the end, it was journalism that changed Malta. It was journalism that exposed Malta’s trajectory to this mafia state. And this was journalism that brought it back.”Paul Caruana Galizia, Maltese journalist and activist

Marija Šajkaš, CGFoE’s Communications Specialist, spoke with journalists, activists, and authors Elena Kostyuchenko and Paul Caruana Galizia. Photo credit: Juan Manuel Ospina Sánchez/CGFoE

Addressing the audience and opening the 2024 Global Freedom of Expression Prize Ceremony, our keynote speaker Elena Kostyuchenko warned against restricting freedom of expression in the name of security. She recalled her own arrests – more than twenty – and emphasized Russia’s path of intensifying repressions, “We have no Parliament now. No freedom of speech. No elections. We have war, repression, censorship. The compromise led us straight to what we feared.”

Elena Kostyuchenko, Russian journalist and activist, delivered her keynote speech at the 2024 Prize Ceremony. Photo credit: Juan Manuel Ospina Sánchez/CGFoE

In the category of Significant Legal Ruling, the 2024 CGFoE Prize went to the High Court of South Africa (Johannesburg) for the Mazetti Management Services (Pty) Ltd and Another v AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism NPC and Others ruling (3 July 2023). The 2024 CGFoE Prize for Excellence in Legal Services was awarded to the Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples Clinic at Suffolk University and the Association of Maya Lawyers and Notaries in Guatemala for their exceptional advocacy in the case of Maya Kaqchikel Indigenous Peoples of Sumpango et al. v. Guatemala (6 October 2021).

“For us, this case represented the multiple threats to investigative journalism in South Africa, and it brought home that the repression of freedom of expression is definitely not abstract. Something that is unfortunately clear here today as well.” Caroline James, Advocacy Coordinator, AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism

“This case is just one chapter of what is now a decades-long movement to secure indigenous community radio in Guatemala. Indigenous peoples in Guatemala have been marching, organizing, and lobbying for law reforms since the 1990s to allow them to fully access and exercise their right to freedom of expression through their community radio.” Nicole Friederichs, Lead Counsel and Director of the Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples Clinic at Suffolk Law School, Suffolk University, Amy Van-Zyl Chavarro, Of-Counsel of the Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples Clinic at Suffolk Law School, Suffolk University, and Adriana Sunun Pablo, Legal advisor at the Association of Maya Lawyers and Notaries in Guatemala

Caroline James, Advocacy Coordinator at AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism, spoke at the 2024 CGFoE Prize Ceremony. Photo credit: Juan Manuel Ospina Sánchez/CGFoE

Nicole Friederichs, Lead Counsel and Director of the Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples Clinic at Suffolk Law School, Suffolk University, Adriana Sunun Pablo, Legal advisor at the Association of Maya Lawyers and Notaries in Guatemala, and Amy Van-Zyl Chavarro, Of-Counsel of the Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples Clinic at Suffolk Law School, Suffolk University, received the 2024 CGFoE Prize for Excellence in Legal Services. Photo credit: Juan Manuel Ospina Sánchez/CGFoE

The performance of Vivir Quintana, Mexican singer, songwriter, and activist, received a standing ovation. Her voice and verses inspired, called for freedom, and denounced repressions: “Don’t let journalism become almost a death sentence. Don’t let activism become almost a death sentence.” And, “We sing without fear, we ask for justice.”

Vivir Quintana, Mexican singer, songwriter, and activist, performed at the 2024 Prize Ceremony. Photo credit: Juan Manuel Ospina Sánchez/CGFoE

The event was generously livecast by the Internet Society. In case you missed it, the full recording is available on our YouTube Channel. 

We thank the Internet Society for their support.

And we thank everyone who celebrated with us. You made the day special.