Female Journalists Honored For Courage

Aferdita S. Kelmendi and her family were cornered by police in a field in Kosovo early this year. After three days without food, they fled to neighboring Albania, where Kelmendi continued to report on the violence in her native Kosovo.

Last evening, Kelmendi, Kim R. Bolan and Sharifa Ahklas, winners of the Courage in Journalism Award this year, were featured in a panel discussion at the Kennedy School of Government.

The three women were honored by the International Women's Media Federation (IWMF) in October.

"They are telling people what is going on places where it is forbidden to report the truth, they are covering stories that get you imprisoned," said Ellen H. Goodman '63, Boston Globe columnist and moderator for the discussion. The panel was sponsored by the Women and Public Policy Program.

In 1985, Bolan covered the bombing of an Air India flight, which killed 329 people and has not yet been solved.

"I didn't set out to get death threats," Bolan said. "I did feel strongly about a story that had been dropped from the media radar screen." And two years ago, she said, "I decided to go hard after the case."

Under the threat of death, she continues to investigate all corruption associated with the Sikh extremists, seeking to shed light on the 1985 bombing and to uncover other acts of violence.

All of these journalists feel that they must continue the work despite threats to themselves and to their family.

Ahklas pursued her work even after her father and brother had been imprisoned and tortured.

"I still didn't have any fear. I was determined to continue my profession. I had been a journalist for 10 years and that was not going to be stopped or silenced by the Taliban," she said.

Ahklas began covering the treatment of Afgan women under the Taliban from within Afganistan, until she was forced into exile and continued her work from Pakistan.

She still returns to Afganistan every few months to report on the conditions of women there.

"Two days before I came here I went to Afganistan. I told the women that I would take their voices to higher education in America," Ahklas said. "This is not just my voice you are listening to. It is the voice of millions of women, asking for your help."

Kelmendi expressed that what she most desired as a reporter and a founder of the first Albanian language radio station in Kosovo was an exchange between journalists in the United States and Kosovo to help resolve their conflicts.

Since the collapse of Communist Yugoslavia, Kelmendi waged a campaign against violence and to establish a free press.

After being refused a permit for her television show by the Serbian government, she continued to report and to produce her own television show over the Internet.

"I understand journalism as a mission. You start one, and it never ends," Kelmendi said. "You cannot live an ordinary life. You can never rest because 24 hours of the day you are in your profession."

These journalists have spent the past five days at the Kennedy school participating in a fellowship program with open discussions, meeting with faculty and presenting at classes, according to Andrea D. Friedman, program assistant for the Women and Public Policy Program.

"What these women do is very relevant to the policy process," said Friedman. "This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to meet with and get to know outstanding women in all different fields."

The fellowship is the last in a month-long series of events celebrating these journalists' courageousness for the tenth annual Courage in Journalism Awards, including travel to other college campuses.

"For journalists around the world, knowing that someone is paying attention to them is very important," Goodman said.

Despite the difficult circumstances Kelmendi has faced, she is still optimistic about the future of her country.

"Human beings are very persistent. They can pass many things and still be strong. Today there are new challenges, obstacles, which are obvious in every post-war situation," Kelmendi said.

"But we are there to do the profession and to go on," she said.