Special Award Winner 2009:
B'Tselem
In 2009, the Special Award for media based in the developing world went to B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.
B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organisation established in 1989, were recognised for a pioneering media initiative that distributes cameras and runs video training activities for Palestinian men, women and children in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These people are able to record human rights abuses as they happen and use the video evidence to hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions.
The project provides Palestinians with a non-violent tool to address the challenges they face on a daily basis.
The cameras provide protection, deterrence, and documentary evidence that enable Palestinian victims to challenge and change the circumstances in which they live. The goal is to bring the reality of people's lives under occupation to the attention of the Israeli and international public, and to seek redress for these human rights violations.
Issa Amro and Oren Yakobovich from B'Tselem
Footage from this project has also been used by the Israeli authorities, who repeatedly request copies of videos from this scheme for investigations into military personnel and settler behaviour.
B'Tselem's project has laid the groundwork for a long-term shift in human rights advocacy in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Its participants have succeeded in giving a tangible, human face to the human rights violations taking place, and through the exposure and response to these images, have become empowered on both an individual and community level.
To find out more, please visit: http://www.btselem.org
This award was judged by the Trustees of One World Media.