Advocacy
Liu Xia: Rare Video Reading
October 8, 2015, marks five years since poet and artist Liu Xia was put under extralegal house arrest on the very day her husband, Liu Xiaobo, was named recipient… More
Jewher Ilham: My Father, My Country
While China’s president is engaging in dialogue with those who disagree with him on many issues, scores of dissidents will be languishing in the prisons that his government… More
[In Chinese] Dear President Xi: A Message from America’s Writers
The Chinese translation of our letter to President Xi Jinping. More
Azerbaijan: Sport for Rights and PEN Call for Release of Detained Journalist, End to Pressure against Independent Media
The Sport for Rights Coalition condemns the Azerbaijani authorities’ extensive pressure against the staff of independent online television station Meydan TV, as part of a wider unprecedented crackdown on… More
Dear President Xi: A Message from America’s Writers
The imprisonment of writers and journalists damages China’s image abroad and undercuts its ambition to be a strong and respected partner on the world stage. More
Eskinder Nega, Zone 9, and Anti-Terrorism Laws: Ethiopia’s Free Expression Crisis
This past weekend marks one year since Ethiopian authorities conducted a sweeping arrest of a group of 6 young bloggers from the Zone 9 Collective and three other journalists.… More
Texas: Whitewashed Textbooks Headed to Classrooms
New social studies textbooks being used in Texas public school classrooms this fall barely address racial segregation—nor do they mention Jim Crow laws throughout American history, or the existence… More
Syrian Activist and Writer Mazen Darwish Released Uncondtionally
PEN warmly congratulates Syrian activist, journalist and winner of the 2014 PEN Pinter Prize for international writer of courage Mazen Darwish and his colleagues from the Syrian Center for… More
1000 Lashes: Because I Say What I Think
"When I look within, I only see that thin man who miraculously withstood fifty lashes, while a group of people celebrated his pain, repeatedly chanting Allahu Akbar. All for… More
Joint Letter Condemning Khadija Ismayilova’s Sentencing
Our joint letter with Sport for Rights condemning the sentencing of Khadija Ismayilova to a staggering 7.5 years in jail. More
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