Entry Title: " Waiting for justice"
Name: FERNANDO MOLERES, Spain
Category: Professional, Deeper Perspective


Story: WAITING FOR JUSTICE Lizzie Sadin´s impressive photographic report on incarcerated minors around the world was presented in VISA por L’image 2007. I remember being quite moved by the dire circumstances of these young men in African jails. Deciding to delve into this tragedy, I found written reports but very few images that attested to this reality. For this reason I considered producing a photographic work that contributed to creating awareness about the seriousness of this problem and break the wall of silence surrounding minors in jail. My arrival at Freetown´s Pademba Road prison was tough: a white man with a camera and thirteen hundred prisoners living in terrible conditions. Many of them spend years awaiting trial. The lack of legal assistance keeps them defenceless. Their lives are placed in danger by the long sentences imposed on them, as well as the prison living conditions. Hygiene is non-existent, food and water are scarce, and there is a constant struggle for survival that sparks tension and violence. Moreover, the younger inmates suffer violence at the hands of the older adult prisoners. Abdul Moresey arrive to Pademba in 2007 at 15 years old. He was charged with murder. The facts are that Abdul went to the river with his best friend and this was drowned. The child´s family accused Abdul with murder and he is four years pending trial. Sentencing in this country is abnormally harsh, and the Sierra Leone government has pronounced that criminal responsibility begins at age ten, which is in clear conflict with the Convention for Child Rights ratified by the same government in 1990. This work was mostly shot in Pademba Road Prison where 32 children, between the years of 14 and 17, share prison life with 1,300 adults. My photo essay on minors in prison was published in the European press (The Independent, Le Monde Magazine, The Sunday Times, Liberation, NZZ, El País Semanal,…) but the story did not transcend beyond acquainting a broad audience with this tragedy. If I desired to truly help these jailed minors, my obligation was to take it one step further. The result has been to create FREE MINOR AFRICA an NGO with a project that offers legal aid and bail payments to those incarcerated for minor offenses. We will also help in their reinsertion back into society. It is fundamental to offer shelter to newly freed youth that have completed their sentence, but have no family or home to go to. Fernando Moleres

Bilbao 1963. For more than 20 years I have photographed current affairs related to human rights. Some of these stories, such as child labor exploitation or minors in jail, deliver unquestionable evidence of situations that should be abolished or, at the very least, persecuted. Documental photography is, for me, a life-affirming attitude, a tool that lets me approach situations that captivate me, preoccupy me, and make me want to participate. Moreover, as photographer, I work and delve into subjects that transcend present time, but intrigue me for their experience and expose me to other types of lives. Being a freelancer lets me work on personal projects over a long period of time. My photo stories/reports/projects are distributed by photography agencies--Panos, Laif, Luz Photos--and regularly appear in national and international newspapers. PRIZES AND GRANTS - World Press Photo 2011, “ Juvenile in prison, Sierra Leone” in Daily life series. - POY, Picture of the Year 2011. World Understanding Award. USA - 8th Festival Images, Leica Prize. Vevey, Switzerland 2011. - Finalist W. Eugene Smith Grant. N.Y.C USA 2011. - Luis Valtueña International prize 2010, Spain. - World Press Photo 2002 , Burning Man in Art , series. - W. Eugene Smith Grant 1999 ( 2ª prize) . New York. - World Press Photo 1998, “ Child labour” in Daily life series. - Erna and Victor Hasselblad Foundation Grant. Sweden 1996. - International Prize Juan Carlos King of Spain. Spain 1995. - Mother Jones Grant. Los Angeles, USA 1994. BOOKS - Child labour. Published by: Peliti (Italy), Braus (Germany), Acte Sud (France), Lunwerg (Spain), International edition by OIT - Uomini di Dio (Italy), Images de la Foi ( France), Lives of Devotion (USA &Canada) published by Rizzoli International, Hombres de Dios published by La Esfera (Spain)