New York — Three Sierra Leonean newspaper editors have been honored by the World Press Review for risking their lives to uphold press freedom and human rights during the past nine years of conflict in their country.
Paul Kamara, editor of For Di People, Philip Neville, editor of Standard Times and David Tam-Baryoh, editor of Punch , received the International Editor of the Year Award at the United Nations in New York from Olara Otunnu, UN Undersecretary General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.
Otunnu said he could not imagine more deserving recipients of such an award. They and their country had suffered beyond description, yet courageous and committed journalists had encouraged and led the people to put a military junta under siege.
World Press Review editor Alice Chasan paid tribute to the professionalism of all three men: "Under the most horrific conditions, Paul Kamara, Philip Neville and David Tam Baryoh have persisted against the odds to uphold the highest standards of the profession. They have fully embraced the journalist's role in creating the conditions for democracy and rule of law in their land, and have braved mortal danger in pursuit of these goals. They are real heroes," she said.
Philip Neville founded Standard Times in 1994 and was repeatedly arrested and detained in subsequent years. In 1997 he and his staff went underground but continued to publish although Neville was later forced into exile. When the overthrown government of Ahmed Tejan Kabbah was restored in 1998 he returned.
But RUF rebels later invaded the capital Freetown and targeted the Standard Times for its reporting of rebel actions. The paper's offices were burned down and its news editor, Paul Mansaray was hacked to death, his wife raped and killed and their children murdered. Neville was forced back into exile, only returning to Sierra Leone last year.
Paul Kamara, who was unable to attend the ceremony, has been threatened and jailed for his journalistic independence. He was ambushed and shot by the military junta in 1996 resulting in severe injuries, particularly to his leg. When he returned from receiving medical treatment abroad in 1997 the democratically-elected government was overthrown, and he took his paper underground, evading capture by AFRC soldiers although his offices were bombed and his home taken over by rebels.
David Tam-Baryoh launched Punch newspaper in 1996 and was soon being targeted by both the military AFRC government and the RUF rebels. After being detained three times he was driven into hiding, and when journalists were being hunted down and killed for their war coverage he went into exile, first in Guinea and then Ghana.
Receiving his award, Tam-Baryoh said he wanted to accept it on behalf of the 15 journalists who had died in the Sierra Leonean conflict - nine at the hands of the rebels, three in government cells, one executed and the others members of the foreign press corps.
Speaking movingly about the way he as a journalist had been affected by what he had seen happen to his colleagues and his compatriots, Tam-Baryoh said he had a lot of heart-searching to do before he could write easily about reconciliation. For ten years he had been writing war stories and "telling the same story over and over again - of agony". He almost couldn't remember how to do the rest of a reporter's job: "Ask me to write an economic story - I'm in the bush," he joked.
Philip Neville said the award strengthened their resolve to complete the task they had set themselves: "Somebody has to tell these people that what they are doing is not right," he said. "We are targeted by both the government and the rebels - we are just in the middle... but this is just the beginning; we will make sure that we tell everything that is happening there."
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The World Press Review magazine grants its Editor of the Year award annually to editors outside the US in recognition of "enterprise, courage and leadership in advancing the freedom and responsibility of the press, enhancing human rights and fostering excellence in journalism".
Previous African recipients include Nigerian Dapo Olorunyomi, then editor of The News in Lagos, and Fred M'membe of The Post in Zambia, both in 1995.
The New York-based magazine is published monthly by the Stanley Foundation of Muscatine, Iowa, which pursues peace, with freedom and justice, through media and educational programs.
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