Writers Call on Attorney General to Drop Risen Subpoena
Efforts to compel journalist James Risen to reveal a confidential source(s) could cement the Obama Administration’s legacy as one of the most hostile to press freedom in U.S. history,… More
End Efforts to Compel Risen to Identify Source(s)
Dear Attorney General Holder, As members and supporters of PEN American Center, an organization representing over 3,500 writers, we write to you today to ask that the Justice Department… More
Reckoning with Torture: Time for Reflection and Action
The Senate Intelligence Committee report on the use of torture by the CIA in the years after 9/11, which has already drawn telling responses from congressional insiders, was finally… More
Students’ Conviction Serves to Further Punish Jailed Professor Ilham Tohti
Seven of Tohti’s students were sentenced to three-to-eight years in prison this morning on spurious charges of separatism, for which Tohti is also serving a life sentence. Students who… More
Renewed Charges Against Pınar Selek Make a Mockery of Turkish Justice System
Trumped up charges against Selek, a Turkish sociologist and feminist, of involvement in the 1998 Istanbul Spice Bazaar explosion were renewed today at the 15th High Criminal Court in… More
PEN Honduras Welcomes IACHR With Hope
The visit comes at a crucial juncture for human rights, of which the right to freedom of expression is particularly vulnerable. More
Iranian Writers Speak Out on Censorship
This is the seventh year that freedom of expression defenders are marking December 4 as the Day to Fight Censorship, as initiated by the Association of Iranian Writers. It… More
Remembering Saïd Mekbel, Twenty Years On
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Algerian journalist Saïd Mekbel. The morning of his assassination, Mekbel had with seeming prescience written a poetic and polemical last… More
ACLU Motion for Press Freedoms in Ferguson Cites PEN Report
The ACLU of Missouri used PEN's report on press freedom in Ferguson in its motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent police from interfering with media documenting the protests. More
PEN Deplores Upholding of Life Sentence for Ilham Tohti
Today, PEN received the devastating news that Ilham Tohti’s life sentence has been upheld by a closed court in China. More
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