Abstract
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When England’s barons forced their King to sign the Magna Carta in 1215, it was an attempt to wrest absolute power from the monarch by his wealthiest subjects, those who already held position and fortune. It was by no means an equality drive, intended to spread rights to the common folk, but every journey begins with a single step, and every action has unintended consequences.
Notably, those who won some power from King John were those who already held land themselves. Menon’s article for this magazine explores, as does the story by Sue Branford, whether land and freedom are connected, and whether with that freedom comes increased power. While Menon explores the rights and roles of women in India, Branford looks at the South American context.
Back in 2012 British Prime Minister David Cameron was quizzed by US chat show host David Letterman about the Magna Carta. While Americans were astounded that Cameron didn’t know more about the historic document, what they didn’t recognise was that Americans have a much closer and special relationship with the Magna Carta than Brits do. The influence of the Magna Carta on the US Bill of Rights is well known, and taught in US schools, while in the UK the document is not often referenced in schools, or elsewhere.
In fact, the Magna Carta is widely recognised outside the UK, some Mexicans refer to the “Mexican Magna Carta”, as Duncan Tucker mentions in his article on the current state of justice, impunity and crackdowns on both the right to protest and the right to report on national scandals. While the world’s eyes are fixed firmly on the Middle East, in Mexico in the past few months, journalists are being threatened, while 42 student protesters who had the temerity to question authorities have disappeared. Burnt bodies of 17 appear to have been found buried in a mass grave nearby.
Twelve months ago, this magazine covered a story about the photojournalists in Azerbaijan being attacked for covering stories, illustrated by horrifying photography. A year on, we return to the story, with one of the co-authors Rebecca Vincent, who discusses how the situation has become even worse. Her co-writer, lawyer Rasul Jafarov, is now being held in prison, while other writers and activists are coming under enormous pressure, aimed at both themselves and their families, to stop writing and speaking critically of the government, or face similar consequences. Others also face charges or jail. International attention can be distracted and inconsistent; while the world’s news cameras and web searches are focused on ISIS or the Ukraine, developments in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan catch far less page views. That means that those authoritarian governments have a chance to operate out of the headlights and are less concerned about international public opinion. And in another part of the former Soviet Union, Russia and Ukraine continue to go eyeball to eyeball. Andrei Aliaksandrau has spent much of the past six months in Ukraine, where he reports for Index on the new propaganda war, and how new and old tools are being deployed to rally public support to fever pitch.
Tintoretto’s image of justice
Credit: Akg-images/Cameraphoto
Index has, from its very first days in 1972, cast a watchful eye on what was then the Soviet Union, and we continue to do so. We intend to keep on telling stories, and to do our best to remind the world of what is going on, sometimes where others fail to do so, or where we feel important news is being ignored.
