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Muhannad Al-Hassani,  the Laureate of this year’s  MEA, lingers in jail in Syria. He is a lawyer who has bravely defended human rights and challenged the oppressive Syrian government. His human rights work brought him into trouble, such as creating a local human rights organization and reporting on the proceedings of the State Security Court. A three-year prison term prevents him from being able to attend the award ceremony in person. In addition, in an appalling demonstration of servility to the Government, the Syrian Bar Association prohibits Mr. Al-Hassani from practicing law for the rest of his life.

watch the BBC Documentary: 'Through the Looking Glass: The Andijan Massacre'
a True Heroes Films production - this film we produced and shot together with Monica Whitlock - former BBC correspondent

SHOWING TIMES
Saturday 29th May 0210 GMT
Repeated: Saturday 29th May at 1510 GMT. Sunday 30th at 0910 and 2110 GMT
or look at the website for local times

STORY
Through the Looking Glass uncovers the lost story of how armed forces gunned down a largely peaceful demonstration in Uzbekistan, in the heart of Central Asia.
Demonstrators had been gathering daily in the eastern city of Andijan through 2005 to call for justice in this highly repressive state – but after almost 100 days the military moved in and opened fire, running down the demonstrators as they tried to get away. Around five hundred people are thought to have been killed.
Uzbekistan, to the north of Afghanistan, is an emerging US ally in the Afghan war and diplomatic hot potato.
The Uzbek authorities called what happened an ‘Islamic uprising’. It confiscated all film of the event and rounded up and imprisoned witnesses. Foreign reporters were ordered out of the country and there has never been an international enquiry. Even now, family members of those involved are threatened and forced to keep silence.
Now for the first time in five years a group of survivors living abroad has decided to speak and it is through them that the film emerges. Each took great risks to appear on camera, in full knowledge that the authorities could take revenge on their children and other relatives in prison.
Through their personal stories, we find out how a confident, cheerful demonstration turned into a bloodbath.
‘Tanks! I’d only seen them in films before!’ says Oltinhon, who never saw her four grandchildren again since that day.  
Through the Looking Glass is far more than a shocking, untold story. It is a human tale of real people. Their motivations, their courage, their complex perspectives compel the view to a conclusion full of resonance – that despite their huge losses, the survivors of Andijan remain full of hope and determined to return home.
As one survivor, Shamsuddin, puts it:
‘If you look at the map, Uzbekistan is such a small country and Andijan is so tiny it's invisible. And 0.1 per cent of this invisible city can speak out to the world.’
Through the Looking Glass: The Andijan Massacre goes out on BBC World 29 May 2010

Herewith some links to publications on the Conference (in Dutch only)
VPRO: reportagevrouwen-in-saoudie-arabie-zijn-vrij-op-internet/
RNW: ambassades-staan-open-voor-mensenrechtenactivisten
EZPRESS: Nieuwe_media_machtig_middel_voor_mensenrechten
Westonline: nieuwsitem
RTL: internet-bevordert-mensenrechten
DENHAAGFM: News

Through the Looking Glass: Stories from Andijan Through the Looking Glass is a documentary exploring the shooting of unarmed protestors in Uzbekistan, in Central Asia, one of NATO’s key allies in the war in Afghanistan. The story has barely been reported. Survivors have never before told their story. But now several have come forward for the first time. Through first-hand accounts, we piece together the rise of an unprecedented and peaceful protest movement in the Uzbek city of Andijan in 2005 and the collision between the Uzbek army and demonstrators that left hundreds of people dead. We hear how the Uzbek government then moved to obliterate any sign that the demonstration had ever happened by imprisoning and intimidating witnesses even to this day. Through these woven narratives, the film explores quandaries, such as personal responsibility and the use of violence, that sit at the heart of the moral compass in political and social protest. In this way, the film takes us far beyond Andijan to issues running deep in a much wider world. BROADCAST among others: on BBC World clips on the 13th of May and the full length documentary on 29th of May and on BBC Persian