Courage Awards: 1994 Courage Award Winners

Christiane Amanpour, United Kingdom
Razia Bhatti, Pakistan
Marie-Yolande Saint-Fleur, Haiti

Christiane Amanpour
London, United Kingdom

As an international correspondent for CNN, Christiane Amanpour has consistently delivered insightful and extensive reporting from some of the most dangerous hot spots in recent memory. For two years she covered civil strife in Bosnia, then the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda, and the overthrow of the Haitian government.

Amanpour has been caught up in the drama of war since 1979 when the Iranian revolution forced her family to flee Tehran with few belongings. After graduating from the University of Rhode Island in 1983, Amanpour went to work as an assistant on the foreign desk at CNN in Atlanta. She subsequently became a correspondent in the network's Frankfurt bureau and rose to prominence for her coverage of the Persian Gulf War.

She is now chief international correspondent for CNN and a contributing correspondent for 60 Minutes on CBS. Her philosophy about journalism is, "To tell the truth. To be objective, but not neutral, especially in cases of genocide. To try to tell serious, important stories in an age of increasing trivia. This is a noble and valuable profession. Done right it is a positive force and valuable contribution to society."

Now stationed in London for CNN, Amanpour continues to be verbally threatened and receive death threats from paramilitaries and governments that oppose her work.

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Razia Bhatti
Karachi, Pakistan
Deceased

For 20 years Razia Bhatti was a leader in Pakistani journalism. After leaving a major magazine in 1988 because of limitations imposed on her writing, she founded and served as editor-in-chief of Newsline magazine.

In a country where incidents of violence against the press were among the highest in the world, Bhatti took on drug cartels, ethnic and fascist political parties, militant Islamic groups, a president's son-in-law, a prime minister's spouse and successive governments. She broke taboos and transgressed limits imposed on freedom of expression by authoritarian regimes as well as a conservative society.

Bhatti wrote of her mission, "Newsline is the venture of a team of working journalists who want to serve this nation in the way they know best: to seek the truth, to spotlight injustice and to fight for redress. We hope not only to appeal to the reason, but to touch the heart."

Throughout her career, Bhatti was driven to present unbiased, accurate and comprehensive reports on issues affecting the people of Pakistan. When she died in 1996 at age 52, she left a husband, son, daughter and the legacy of Newsline.

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Marie-Yolande Saint-Fleur
Port-au-Prince, Haiti

As a photographer and founder of "Agence Haitienne d'Images," Marie-Yolande Saint-Fleur captured the repression of Haiti's citizens and the violence of its military rulers.

At the time of her Courage in Journalism Award, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported, "The military coup that toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide abruptly ended a flourishing period for the Haitian media. The Haitian Armed Forces and their paramilitary squads intimidated and attacked news outlets."

Because of her photographs, Saint-Fleur was targeted by both the military and armed civilians. Her photo agency was forced to close after the coup and Saint-Fleur, fearing for her life, was forced into hiding, fleeing to remote areas of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In 1993, she returned to Haiti, but after she was shot at and armed civilians repeatedly threatened her because of her continued reporting, Saint-Fleur sought refuge in the United States. She now lives in New York.

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Gao Yu
Beijing, China

One of the most respected journalists in China, Gao Yu was in prison when her award was announced. An economic and political reporter, she was sentenced in 1993 to six years in prison for "leaking state secrets," through - ironically - a pro-Chinese newspaper in Hong Kong. The charges brought against Gao led some observers to believe that the underlying goal was to send a message about acceptable boundaries of press freedom and limit media criticism of China's government.

During the 1980s Gao became known for her investigative pieces on economic issues and her interviews with many of the major architects of reform. Her writings and involvement in the 1989 pro-democracy movement and her willingness to jeopardize her safety and career in the service of freedom, democracy and human rights significantly contributed to the free press movement.

Gao was released on medical parole in March 1999, but the terms of her release restrict her from speaking with reporters. Her son has indicated that she is still in poor health and is seeking treatment for kidney ailments and high blood pressure before deciding whether she will continue her journalism career.

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