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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Status
DetainedRadwan Qatanani
Journalist, Online CommentatorIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaRadwan Qatanani is a columnist for the Palestinian news website ETAR as well as an online commentator posting primarily on Twitter. He previously spent 20 months in administrative detention between 2017 and 2018, and was most recently arrested in his home on the outskirts of Nablus in the West Bank…
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Recorded HarassmentRafael Gabriel Almanza Alonso
Journalist, Literary writer, Poet, ScholarCubaAmericasFamed poet and Marxist intellectual Alonso has suffered political persecution for his openly anti-Castro views. Since he was first expelled from university in 1980, he has endured extreme censorship and surveillance, constant death threats, and police interrogations. In recent years, his Facebook posts criticizing socialism and supporting the San Isidro…
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Recorded HarassmentRafael Marques de Morais
Activist, Journalist, Literary writerAngolaSub-Saharan AfricaAnti-corruption writer Marques has faced threats for over twenty years. He was previously imprisoned for exposing corruption under former President José Eduardo dos Santos. Changes in Angola’s political leadership have led to more support for Marques’ writing; however, incumbent politicians continue harbor resentment and leverage charges against Marques. Despite receiving…
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Displaced/In ExileRafael Vilches Proenza
Literary writer, PoetCubaAmericasVilches Proenza is a novelist and poet whose work critical of the Cuban government. In 2021, he was briefly detained, interrogated, and threatened several times. In November, he was given a letter explaining that he was arrested for his activism, signing a letter in support of protests, and writing his…
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MurderedRafiq Taği
Journalist, Literary writerAzerbaijanEurope and Central AsiaTaği, a journalist and writer, died in 2011 days after a stabbing in Baku, possibly linked to his article critical of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, published a week earlier. In 2015, the prosecutor halted the investigation, despite doubts about its thoroughness. Taği authored many books including Yanaşı Ulduzlar (The Stars…
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Displaced/In ExileRagıp Zarakolu
Activist, PublisherTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaRagıp Zarakolu has a catalog of indictments against him dating back to the early 1970s. He has lived in exile in Sweden since 2012 but continues to face legal harassment from the Turkish government. In September 2018, the Turkish government formally requested his extradition, which was rejected by the Supreme…
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ImprisonedRahile Dawut
Literary writer, ScholarChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificDawut, whose academic research focuses on Uyghur folklore and Islamic sacred sites across Xinjiang, was reportedly last heard from in December 2017. She was tried in 2018 on “splittism” charges and convicted. She later appealed the court’s decision but the appeal was rejected. After years of rumors about her sentencing,…
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On TrialRahul Pandita
Journalist, Literary writerIndiaAsia-PacificOn September 16, 2017, Harpreet Singh Sidhu filed a defamation suit against journalist and best-selling author Rahul Pandita. While it was initially dismissed by a lower court in Mohali, an appellate court overturned the decision and ordered Pandita to pay INR 7.5 million on March 5, 2024. However on May…
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Conditional ReleaseRaif Badawi
Activist, Online CommentatorSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaRaif Badawi was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for “insulting Islam” and “founding a liberal website,” Free Saudi Liberals. While detained, he was not only reported to be in poor health, exacerbated by flogging, but also was subject to an attempted assassination…
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.