Cartoons – capturing freedom of expression

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Untitled. Sara Qaed is a cartoonist originally from Bahrain who now lives in the United Kingdom. Her daily cartoons look at refugees, women, corruption, power, the human existence and contradictions. Sara Qaed

"It's not easy to frame freedom of expression”. André-Philippe Côté is a Canadian screenwriter and cartoonist known for his comic books. Côté's work also appears in newspapers and satirical magazines. Every year he produces a collection of his best cartoons. His artwork has been displayed in major exhibitions. Côté

Indian cartoonist Rachita Taneja is the founder of Sanitary Panels, a feminist webcomic on Instagram that provides a commentary on politics, society and culture. In December 2020, she became the subject of criminal contempt action. This arose from one cartoon in particular about the judiciary, which suggested a bias of the Supreme Court towards the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. sanitraypanels

Wang Liming, who uses the pseudonym Rebel Pepper, is a Chinese political cartoonist famous for his anti-Communist and satirical cartoons. Originally from Xinjiang, Wang Liming fled China in 2014. He now lives in exile in the United States. Rebel Pepper

This cartoon, a Bloodstained Armed Forces Day, about Myanmar, is also from Wang Liming. He has been working as a political cartoonist for Radio Free Asia RFA in the US since 2017. Rebel Pepper

"From Tiananmen to Hong Kong". Patrick Chappatte is a Swiss-Lebanese cartoonist who has worked for the International Herald Tribune, Der Spiegel and The New York Times (which stopped publishing daily political cartoons in 2019). Chappatte is president of the Geneva-based Freedom Cartoonists Foundation, (previously Cartooning for Peace, which was recently reorganised and of which he was one of the founders in 2010). Chappatte

Cuban-born Angel Boligán Corbo graduated in Fine Arts in Havana in 1987. He has lived in Mexico since 1992, where he works as a cartoonist for the newspaper El Universal, the magazine Conozca Más and the political magazine El Chamuco. He is also the founder of the CartonClub agency for political cartoons. Boligan

Japanese cartoonist Norio Yamanoi spent ten years in France, where he worked as a director of short films. After returning to Japan, he turned to cartoons, publishing in the weekly magazine AERA. He travels for two months every year around the globe to promote peace and tolerance through his cartoons. No_Rio

"Censorship - the resurrection". Arnaldo Angeli Filho works as a political cartoonist for the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo and for Universo OnLine (UOL) in Brazil. He has won the prize for Brazil's best cartoonist 16 times. Angeli

Hani Abbas is a Syrian-Palestinian cartoonist born in 1977 in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. In 2012 he fled Syria after posting one of his cartoons on Facebook. He requested asylum in Switzerland and now lives there. Hani Abbas

"No more political cartoons in The New York Times". Marco De Angelis, born in 1955, is an Italian journalist, editorial cartoonist, illustrator of many children’s books and graphic designer. Since 1975, he has published in 200 newspapers, both in Italy (for prestigious dailies like La Repubblica) and abroad. He is editor in chief of the online magazine Buduàr. CartoonArts International and The New York Times Syndicate (before 2019) have distributed his work worldwide. M. De Angelis

"First, evaluate my work on a scale of 1 to 5". Aleksey Merinov is a self-taught cartoonist, who has been working for the newspaper Moskovskij Komsomolets in Moscow since 1988. Aleksey Merinov

David Pope began drawing for various Australian publications associated with the labour and environmental movements in the mid-1980s. His cartoons were published under the pen name Heinrich Heinz during his freelance career. Since 2008, Pope has been working for The Canberra Times and uses his own name. Pope

"I must not, I must not draw, I must not draw Mohammed..." Jean Plantureux or Plantu published his first cartoon on the Vietnam War in 1972 in Le Monde and has just retired from the newspaper. He is one of the founders of Cartooning for Peace, of which he is still honorary president. Plantu

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Caricatures, political cartoons – these are often fun or at least make you smile. But they are also key for expressing freedom of speech. SWI swissinfo.ch brings you a selection of the best cartoons from around the world.

Almost anything – or anyone – can be a target. Many a powerful figure has been skewered by a cartoonist’s sharp pen over lies, machinations or crimes.

There’s usually a touch of anarchy in these cartoons as well. But they are not just a means of provocation. Faced with often shocking world events, cartoons – by testing the limits of decency and what is acceptable – are often the best way of highlighting the inacceptable, incomprehensible or intolerable.

Cartoons are both a strong plea for and a stress test for freedom, tolerance and a society’s ability for conduct a dialogue. And this no matter whether you live in a dictatorship or a democracy.

Make your voice heard!

SWI #freedomofexpression series

In principle, everything should be crystal clear. Articles 19 of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) stipulate that “everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.” In Europe, the European Convention on Human Rights (1950) confirms freedom of expression as a legally binding right (article 10). Switzerland enshrines this fundamental freedom in article 16 of its 1999 constitution.   

In practice, however, much remains contested. Many governments around the world are not protecting the right to freedom of expression but are increasingly undermining it. In other parts of the world, individuals and groups brandish the term “freedom of expression” to justify discriminatory and hateful speech. But although it is a universal right, freedom of expression is not an absolute right. Ensuring it and applying it is always a tightrope walk.

In a new SWI swissinfo.ch series we address these various aspects, challenges, opinions, and developments around freedom of expression, both in Switzerland and around the world. We provide a platform for citizens to express themselves on the issue, offer analysis by renowned scholars and highlight developments locally and globally. And, naturally, readers are invited to join the conversation later this spring and to make their voices heard.