CAIRO: An Egyptian journalist was granted the Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press for an article exposing several human rights violations in an Egyptian tobacco factory.
In her report titled “Tobacco Girls,” Safaa Saleh, a journalist for Al-Osbou, uncovered violations such as child labor, violence against women, sexual harassment and verbal abuse that take place at the Al-Wardah Tobacco Factory on the outskirts of Shebeen Al-Kom in Menufiya.
The report, published last year, won the “Best Investigative Report.”
“I worked there [for one day] to observe the violations closely," Saleh told Daily News Egypt.
She was motivated to explore that factory after she saw a group of girls, in a visibly poor health condition, waiting for the bus in the neighborhood. She then knew she had to get in and decided that the only way was to work there undercover.
“Living in the same area, I was attracted by that sight, so I decided to investigate more. I started researching. It took me a month and a half to prepare for this experience; and a week until I finished writing the report including the one day I worked there,” according to Saleh.
“This experience wasn’t my first, I always tend to investigate other phenomena by myself, immersing myself in them,” she added.
Saleh recalled her experience inside the factory and the dangerous situations she found herself in.
“The reason I was so scared is because a doctor at the National Research Center told me that she tried to get into this factory before but she couldn’t even though she is a researcher and she should be allowed,” Saleh explained.
She added, “If they had discovered that I was a journalist and I had a camera with me, which I wasn’t even able to take out of my pocket – I had to take photos secretly with my phone – the least they would’ve done was make the girls working there beat me, I could’ve died.”
After publishing her report, Saleh complains that there wasn’t any attention or reactions by the government or by government officials, even though she appeared on several television shows discussing the violations she witnessed.
However, she said, “My duty is to talk about it and expose these transgressions and for officials to do their part.”
Among the many human rights violations that occurred inside the factory Saleh recalled a story of a girl, who suffered Hemiplegia after a male supervisor cursed her and verbally abused her. “The girl woke up the next morning Hemiplegic; and she did nothing about it except quit,” she said.
Another 10-year-old boy lost three fingers while operating a machine in the factory and received LE 3000 in compensation.
“All these people are not familiar with the concept of demanding their rights or complaining; they are satisfied with whatever they can get,” Saleh reported.
Saleh’s report cited several statements from workers in the factory and her own personal experience.
“The young girls, aged between 9 and 22, are exposed to many health risks resulting from soil, acids, and gases caused by manufacturing and packing on a daily basis. They are also humiliated and tortured by female supervisors, and there is no one to defend their rights and protect them from psychological and physical harm,” she said.
“I sat down watching the girls as they entered the [factory]. They were more than 200 girls, over 15 of whom did not reach the age of 10.”
“The [supervisor] is violent and she frequently beats girls and calls them names,” Saleh recalled.
The Samir Kassir Award is granted by the European Union to two journalists for their articles addressing the rule of law or human rights.
The two candidates are selected by a Jury according to the criteria of relevance, originality, quality and respect of professional rule.
The other winner was Libyan journalist, Mustafa Fetouri, who won the prize in the "Best Opinion Article" category for his article: “Feed and let others feed: Libya’s recipe for lack of progress” published in English in The National in the United Arab Emirates.
The first two editions of the award (2006-2007) were open to nine countries of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. In 2008, the European Union extended the range of participation to nine additional Arab countries. The award is now open to nationals from 18 countries in the region: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the Palestinian territory, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
In 2010, 146 candidates submitted applications, including 85 to the "Investigative Reporting Category" and 61 to the "Opinion Article Category." The candidates were of 15 different nationalities.
