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	This year, activism around the world has been fueled by video by Yvette Alberdingk Thijm Witness Human Rights Video Channel   Video captured by an accidental witness may have made the difference between impunity and justice this week in America, and set a new precedent for the prosecution of incidents of police aggression in the United States.   Last Saturday in South Carolina, Walter Scott was pulled over for a routine traffic stop by a police officer— an encounter which ultimately cost Mr. Scott his life. Officer Michael Slager''s report of what happened that morning, detailing an altercation in which Mr. Scott was allegedly the aggressor, was refuted when a citizen video that captured the event surfaced. The video not only shows the officer shooting at an unarmed Mr. Scott, who was running away from him, but it also shows Officer Slager appearing to tamper with the crime scene.   There is no restitution for a tragedy such as this one. We are encouraged, however, that a brave citizen was able to capture what he was witnessing so that justice may prevail. His video helps change the picture.   Our co-founder Peter Gabriel recently wrote in WIRED: "The evidence being trusted in courts today is most often based on our fallible memories, spoken evidence produced long after the event, which in turn, is being proved to be unreliable at best and often re-imagined. Video has the capability to put more reality into the world of ''remembered'' evidence."   It is too early to tell if the charges brought against one police officer will change the course of how police violence incidents are investigated in the United States. But we remain steadfast in our support of citizens using video and our belief that video will be increasingly instrumental in bringing about justice.   As a community, we have witnessed and protested police violence committed against unarmed men in the US. We’ve seen and cried out against military aggression Syria, which continues to displace hundreds of thousands. We’ve stood in solidarity with young people in Hong Kong as they broadcast their demands for democracy.   At the end of each year, WITNESS stops to reflect on the human rights stories captured on video by citizens and shared on our curated Human Rights Channel.   In 2014, citizens documented some of the most egregious human rights abuses on video and brought them to the attention of newsrooms, world leaders, and the international community at large.   Our 2014 Year In Review Video highlights the footage that made headlines – from Gaza to Syria to Ukraine – as well as the less publicized, but no less horrifying, stories coming out of places like Honduras, Vietnam, and Western Sahara.   While these stories can be hard to watch, we believe that video is one of the most effective ways to expose the truth and catalyze change. We have been able to amplify hundreds of human rights videos in 2014 alone--stories that would otherwise go unseen, unheard, unchanged.   http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/magazine/the-media-doesnt-care-what-happens-here.html Visit the related web page
	2014 Round-Up of Abuses against Journalists Report by Reporters Without Borders, CPJ   16 Dec 2014   Aside from a slight fall in the number of journalists killed in connection with their work, the Reporters Without Borders round-up for 2014 highlights an evolution in the nature of violence against journalists and the way certain kinds, including carefully-staged threats and beheadings, are being used for very clear purposes.   The murders are becoming more and more barbaric and the number of abductions is growing rapidly, with those carrying them out seeking to prevent independent news coverage and deter scrutiny by the outside world. Exposed to such diverse forms of intimidation, twice as many journalists fled into exile this year as in 2013.   The annual round-up of violence and abuses against journalists that Reporters Without Borders has been publishing since 1995 is based on precise data that RWB gathers in the course of its monitoring. It includes figures for both professional and citizen-journalists killed in connection with their reporting. RWB continues to investigate cases when it has not yet gathered enough information to reach a clear determination.   According to RWB’s tally, 66 journalists were murdered this year, bringing to 720 the number of journalists killed in connection with their work in the past 10 years.   A total of 119 journalists were kidnapped this year, an increase of more than 35% on last year’s figure. Forty journalists are currently being held hostage.   http://en.rsf.org/rwb-publishes-2014-round-up-of-16-12-2014,47388.html http://www.cpj.org/reports/2014/12/international-journalists-killed-at-high-rate-in-2014-middle-east-deadliest-region-for-press.php http://cpj.org/reports/2014/12/journalists-in-prison-china-is-worlds-worst-jailer.php http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/freedom-of-expression/press-freedom/unesco-condemns-killing-of-journalists/ Visit the related web page
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