Politically threatened music cultures
The Copenhagen-based non-governmental organization Freemuse counted 1028 attacks on musicians in 78 countries around the world in 2016 and is concerned about the increasing threats to artistic freedom.
Compared to 2015, the number of reports had more than doubled, from 469 registered attacks in 2015 to 1028 in 2016. Freemuse counted 840 cases of censorship and 188 violent attacks on musicians. Examples include the violent deaths of musicians Amjad Sabri in Pakistan and Pascal Treasury Nshimirimana in Burundi, as well as the death of a 15-year-old in Iraq who was executed by the so-called Islamic State for listening to Western music.
The highest number of incidents (30) was recorded in Iran. The country has been the most conspicuous since 2012, when Freemuse began documenting threats. It is followed in the inglorious list by Turkey, Egypt, Nigeria, China, Russia, Malaysia, Syria, Tanzania and Uzbekistan.
Freemuse was founded in 1998 at the World Conference on Music and Censorship in Copenhagen. In 2009, it received the IMC Musical Rights Award from the UNESCO Music Council.
More info: freemuse.org
