U.S. Is Urged to Lift Ban on Foreign Scholars
Tariq Ramadan, a respected Swiss academic and Muslim scholar, had a job all lined up at the University of Notre Dame in 2004, but the Bush administration prevented him… More
Writers Hail Executive Orders Ending Torture and Illegal Detention
PEN American Center praised President Barack Obama’s quick action in signing executive orders closing Guantanamo Bay and other secret detention facilities and explicitly banning torture, actions the organization has… More
Beijing Clamps Down After Call for Democracy
The release last week of a human rights manifesto signed by hundreds of mainland scholars, lawyers and ex-officials has prompted a stern response from Chinese authorities who have jailed… More
China urged to extend media freedoms domestically
China should extend media freedoms it now offers foreign reporters to domestic journalists too, rights groups said, but added that the signs were not encouraging this would happen. China… More
Beyond the Olympics: The Freedom to Write in China, After the Spotlight
Today, October 17, 2008, temporary regulations that were said to guarantee the ability of international journalists to report freely from China will expire. More
Writers Hail Ruling in Favor of Guantanamo Detainees
PEN American Center today hailed a federal court ruling ordering that 17 Uighur detainees at Guantanamo Bay be released into the United States. The decision could signal the end… More
Writers Commemorate Burmese Uprisings, Rally for Jailed Colleagues
Salman Rushdie, Orhan Pamuk, Kiran Desai, Siri Hustvedt, Joseph Lelyveld, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, and George Packer shared the stage of the Great Hall of Cooper Union last night with… More
PEN: Signs “Discouraging” for Post-Olympics Human Rights Improvements in China
As the temporary regulations for foreign journalists working in the People’s Republic of China expire today, three International PEN centers issued a report highlighting the vulnerable position writers and… More
PEN Gives Voice to Silenced Writers in China on Eve of the Olympics
In New York last night, celebrated PEN Members gathered to read banned and censored work by writers in China, including new and never-before translated writings by Tsering Woeser, Yang… More
PEN Protests Censorship at Olympic Press Facilities
PEN American Center today reacted with shock to the news that the International Olympic Committee apparently agreed to allow the Chinese government to censor the Internet at the Olympic… More