Let’s Crowdsource Our Own Hollywood Movie About Torture
With controversy still swirling around the film Zero Dark Thirty and its misleading suggestion that torture put the CIA on the trail of Osama bin Laden, it's time to… More
Qatari Poet’s Sentence Reduced
A three-judge panel of Qatar’s court of appeal unanimously decided today to reduce poet Mohammad Ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami’s life sentence to 15 years in prison for his poetry, still… More
Speak Up for Free Expression in Qatar
Poet Mohammad Ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami, serving a life sentence for his poetry in Qatar, is awaiting a decision on his appeal. Speak up now and sign a petition calling… More
PEN Case Studies in Digital Freedom – Surveillance
In this series of posts, we demonstrate how we use the PEN Declaration on Digital Freedom to defend writers, bloggers, and activists. More
PEN at UNESCO Freedom of Expression Conference – Day 2
The second day of the UNESCO conference on Freedom of Connection, Freedom of Expression in Marrakech featured more heated debate and discussion. I presented PEN's Declaration on Digital Freedom,… More
Remember Tal
Two years ago today, Tal al-Mallouhi, a student, poet, and blogger who was detained in Damascus in late December 2009, was sentenced to five years in prison for “divulging… More
PEN’s Declaration on Digital Freedom goes to Marrakech
After a 24-hour journey, I've arrived in Marrakech, Morocco to participate in UNESCO's Freedom of Connection, Freedom of Expression conference (Liberté de connexion, liberté d'expression), which will examine the… More
Inching Toward Accountability?
Last week's confirmation hearing for John Brennan offered a small, and not especially satisfying, exercise in public accountability. But at least some of the big questions were asked. More
A Lunar New Year in Flames
The Lunar New Year begins this weekend, but in Tibet, where 86 Tibetans have self-immolated in the last year as a last-ditch effort to be heard, celebrations will be… More
A Literary Festival in Myanmar?
The Irrawaddy Literary Festival, organized by the wife of the British ambassador to Myanmar, features an impressive lineup of foreign writers, but what’s even more exciting is the roster… More