Writers at Risk Database
PEN America champions the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. The bedrock work of the global PEN network is advocacy and assistance on behalf of individuals persecuted for their use of the written word or other forms of expression. PEN America’s Writers at Risk Database is a searchable catalog of the writers, journalists, academics, public intellectuals and others under threat around the world. The database includes historical cases PEN America has worked on from 1987 onwards; non-active cases are color-coded black. PEN America is grateful to the John Templeton Foundation for support that enabled the establishment of the Writers at Risk Database and to PEN International for their collaboration in assembling this database.
Filters
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DetainedAmanuel Asrat
Journalist, Literary writer, Poet, Singer/SongwriterEritreaSub-Saharan AfricaAmanuel Asrat, an esteemed Eritrean poet, journalist, and former editor-in-chief of Zemen newspaper, was arrested on September 23, 2001, amid a government crackdown on independent media. Since then, he has been detained without charge or trial, with his exact whereabouts and health status remaining unknown. He has published poetry, songs,…
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ImprisonedXu Zhiyong
Activist, Literary writerChinaAsia-PacificXu, a noted essayist and public intellectual, had for decades advocated for good governance and citizen engagement through his writing. In February 2020, he was detained amid a crackdown on activists critical of Chinese government policies who had gathered in late December 2019. He was tried in secret in June…
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ImprisonedWai Moe Naing
Activist, Journalist, Literary writerMyanmarAsia-PacificA writer and member of PEN Myanmar, Wai Moe Naing rose to prominence as an anti-coup protest leader in Monywa for his role in organizing daily demonstrations. On April 15, 2021, he was beaten, arrested, and detained, and was handed down sentences in both August and October 2022. On April…
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Conditional ReleaseLoujain Al-Hathloul
Activist, Online CommentatorSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaAl-Hathloul, a women’s rights advocate, was detained in a sweep of arrests in May 2018 and held for 1,000 days in prison, during which time she was reportedly tortured and assaulted. In December 2020, she was found “guilty” of broad terrorism charges and sentenced to nearly six years in prison.…
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ImprisonedValery Pazniakievic
Journalist, Online Commentator, Poet, Singer/SongwriterBelarusEurope and Central AsiaPoet and bard Valery Pazniakievic was detained in August 2024 after posting political poems on social media. His poems were analyzed in the investigation against him and he was questioned for writing them in Belarusian as opposed to Russian. He received a series of fines over the next year totalling…
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Displaced/In ExileAles Bialacki
Activist, Literary writer, ScholarBelarusEurope and Central AsiaBialacki, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is a writer, literary critic, and head of human rights group Viasna. In July 2021, he was arrested on feigned tax evasion charges targeting his work to monitor human rights violations. He was detained on charges of “smuggling” and “ violating public order” by…
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ReleasedMustafa Sheta
Creative artist, Journalist, Online CommentatorIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaSheta, known for his activism, is a columnist and producer at The Freedom Theatre. In early December 2023, the Israeli Army forces broke into and destroyed The Freedom Theatre and its offices during a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. They then stormed Sheta’s house and…
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ImprisonedGolrokh Ebrahimi Iraee
Activist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorIranMiddle East and North AfricaGolrokh Ebrahimi Iraee has faced more than a decade of harassment, detention, and repeated imprisonment for her writing and activism on a range of human rights themes. First arrested in 2014 on charges related to an unpublished short story criticizing the practice of stoning and sentenced to 6 years in…
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ImprisonedMohamed Tadjadit
Activist, Online Commentator, PoetAlgeriaMiddle East and North AfricaKnown for his pro-democracy poetry, Tadjadit—often referred to as the “poet of the Hirak”—was first arrested in August 2020 for participating in a peaceful protest. He was released in January 2021 but was re-arrested shortly afterward and detained for over a year. Following a series of brief detentions throughout 2022…
Writers at Risk Database Key:
STATUS box that is red: Active case
STATUS box that is black: Inactive case
Funder
PEN America is deeply grateful to the John Templeton Foundation for its generous support of the Freedom to Write Index and Writers at Risk Database.
Partner
PEN America thanks the PEN International Secretariat and the Writers in Prison Committee for their extensive contributions to and collaboration on compiling the cases included in this database.