Nieman Fellow Wins International Award

Hollman Morris Rincon, a Colombian journalist and Nieman Fellow who was initially denied a visa this summer to study in the United States, was recently awarded the 2011 Nuremberg International Human Rights Award for his coverage of human rights violations in Colombia.

According to the website of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, the award, which is given every two years by the Human Rights Office of the City of Nuremberg, Germany, “is intended to contribute towards the observance and implementation of Human Rights as a universal and indivisible principle.”

Morris’ work as the producer of an independent television news program called “Contravia” included critical coverage of former Colombia President Álvaro Uribe Vélez’s administration.

“This award came at a special moment of my life,” Morris said. “It came at a time of intense struggle for justice without impunity [in Colombia].”

Morris, who was later granted the visa to study in the United States that he was originally denied on “security and related grounds,” said he greatly appreciates the help he received from the Nieman Foundation in securing the visa.

Morris explained that prior to arriving in the United States to study as a Nieman Fellow about a month ago, he and his family could not leave their home without the protection of bodyguards due to his journalistic work.

During Uribe’s presidency, the Colombian secret service persecuted independent reporters and all those who opposed the administration, Morris said.

The award recognizes over 20 years of work by Morris and also commemorates the victims of Uribe’s administration.

Now at Harvard, Morris said that he finally has the opportunity to live a “normal” and “peaceful” life that he and his family did not experience in Colombia. He said the biggest change has been the ability to ride a bicycle or walk through Cambridge without worrying about secret police or having bodyguards.

—Staff writer Xi Yu can be reached at xyu@college.harvard.edu.