Amnesty announces 2013 human rights media awards winners

*Journalists support #FreeAliOthman campaign for detained Syrian media worker

Amnesty International UK has announced the winners of its prestigious annual media awards 2013 for human rights journalism.

There were wins for Anthony Loyd (Times), Eric Allison and Simon Hattenstone (Guardian Weekend), Ronke Phillips (ITV News London), Ai Weiwei and Cheng Yizhong (New Statesman), True Vision for Channel 4, the BBC World Service, Channel 4 News, and Panorama/BBC World TV.

Awards also went to Edythe McNamee (CNN International), Shannon Jensen (Saturday Telegraph Magazine), and to Lauren Wilks (The Student, University of Edinburgh newspaper) in the student journalism award category.

The winners were announced this evening at a ceremony hosted by BBC News presenter Philippa Thomas at the British Film Institute in central London. The coveted awards - covering the period March 2012-February 2013 - recognise excellence in human rights reporting and acknowledge journalism’s significant contribution to the public’s awareness and understanding of human rights issues.

This year’s awards ceremony included a focus on Syria, with guests taking part in a new campaign calling for the release of Mahmoud Ali Othman, a citizen journalist from Homs detained by Syrian government forces over a year ago. Othman was part of the network of media activists running the “Homs Media Centre” during the Syrian army’s siege of the Baba ‘Amr district of the city last year. Othman had been assisting The Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin before she was killed by shelling of the media centre.

Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said:

“The standard of entries this year was superb and the winners produced some of the best human rights journalism being put out anywhere in the world.

“Journalism at its best exposes injustice and holds the powerful to account. This year’s winners did this brilliantly - with searing dispatches from places like Syria, Burma, Kashmir and Russia.

“It’s been genuinely inspiring to see human rights journalism of this calibre. Well done to all those who produced the work and gave it their editorial backing. It’s truly valuable work.”

Previous winning journalists have included Marie Colvin, Mike Thomson, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, Eamonn McCann, Victoria Derbyshire, Christine Toomey, Alan Johnston, Lindsey Hilsum, Gideon Mendel, Lucy Ash, Andrew Gilligan and Gaby Rado. More information at: www.amnesty.org.uk/mediaawards

Note to editors:

Photographs of the award winners will be available from tomorrow morning.

THE FULL LIST OF WINNERS:

DIGITAL INNOVATION

Channel 4 (Anna Doble, Katie Razzall, Louise Turner, Cara Berkley) - No Go Britain: A social media-led investigation into public transport for disabled people in the year of the Paralympics

JUDGES: Liz Hazleton, Sunny Hundal, Owen Jones, Jody Thompson, Mary Whittaker

DOCUMENTARY

True Vision for Channel 4 (Paddy Garrick, Adrian Levy, Jezza Neumann, Cathy Scott-Clark) - Kashmir’s Torture Trail

JUDGES: Steven Barnett, Homa Khaleeli, James Rogan, Alison Rooper, Emma Shore

GABY RADO MEMORIAL AWARD

CNN International (Edythe McNamee) - Slavery’s Last Stronghold

JUDGES: Mike Blakemore, Deborah Haynes, Jon Manel, Tom Rado, Jon Snow

INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION & RADIO

Panorama / BBC World TV (Jane Corbin, Tom Giles, Matthew Hill, Shad Khan) - The Secret Drone War

JUDGES: Mark Galloway, Phil Harding, Flora Hunter, Naresh Puri, Thomas Schultz-Jagow

MAGAZINES - CONSUMER

New Statesman (Ai Weiwei, Cheng Yizhong) - Facts have Blood as Evidence; The Virus of Censorship; Meet the 50-Cent Party

JUDGES: Hannah Lack, Maggie Paterson, Lisa Smosarski, Emma Tucker

MAGAZINES - NEWSPAPER SUPPLEMENTS

Guardian Weekend (Eric Allison, Simon Hattenstone) - How did Neville Husband get away with the Horrific Abuse of Teenagers in his care?

JUDGES: Hannah Lack, Maggie Paterson, Lisa Smosarski, Emma Tucker

NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS

The Times (Anthony Loyd) - We Heard Screaming 20 hours a Day; Worse Than War: inside city of death; Millions Starve as Assad plays the Hunger Game

JUDGES: Jamie Grierson, Helen Lewis, Maggie Paterson, Michelle Stanistreet, Joel Taylo

NATIONS & REGIONS

ITV News London (Ronke Phillips) - Witchcraft: Congo to London

JUDGES: Ian Cobain, Patrick Corrigan, Marc Mallett, Bethan Williams, Ruth Wishart

PHOTOJOURNALISM

Saturday Telegraph Magazine (Shannon Jensen) - A Long Walk

JUDGES: Stuart Freedman, Susan Glen, Maggie Paterson, Kelly Preedy, Fiona Rogers

RADIO

BBC World Service (Rebecca Kesby, Dina Newman, Bridget Harney) - Russia: Waiting for Justice

JUDGES: Jane Anderson, Andrew Bailey, Mike Blakemore, Anna Doble, Ronke Phillips

STUDENT AWARD

The Student, University of Edinburgh newspaper (Lauren Wilks) - Forgotten Brides: life after forced marriage

JUDGES: Vicky Baars, Daisy Baldwin, Ursula Kenny, Tracey McVeigh, Kem Sawyer, Hannah Shaw, Matthew Tennant

TELEVISION NEWS

Channel 4 News (Aung Zaw Min, John Sparks, Matt Jasper) - Burma’s Forgotten People

JUDGES: Mark Austin, Mike Blakemore, Huw Edwards, Nevine Mabro, Tim Miller