A CNN Freedom Project investigation by Fred Pleitgen has been honored at the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) awards.

"Death In The Desert" - a 30 minute special first broadcast late last year on CNN International - revealed the horrifying story of African refugees who are enslaved or tortured, while trying to flee to Israel through the treacherous Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.

While awarding the CNN special the Tom Renner Award, the IRE panel noted:

"CNN’s team faced great personal risk in crossing the dangerous badlands of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula to expose a network of human trafficking and organ sales in “Death in the Desert.”

The team managed to persuade the hostile, clannish Bedouin tribesmen of the region to talk about their organized kidnapping for ransom and trafficking in African immigrants trying to cross from Egypt into Israel. The team also procured photographic evidence, reviewed by coroners, that suggested some immigrants had their organs harvested before being buried in the desert.

The final scene of nameless immigrants buried in unmarked graves almost within sight of their final destination in Israel provided an emotional finish to a dramatic, difficult and important story."

The CNN team who worked on the special include: Frederik Pleitgen, Mohamed Fahmy, Sheri England, Tim Lister, Ian Lee, Simon Payne and Earl Nurse.