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.
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Jahanbegloo, author of over 20 books on Iranian current affairs and contributor to international publications, was arrested in April 2006 without charge; though unconfirmed claims say he threatened national security. He was released on bail in August 2006.
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Known for his dissident writing in his songs and online, rapper Ramón Eusebio López Díaz livestreamed his arrest on June 18, 2021, as police broke into his house following his peaceful participation in the 11J protests. He was released from custody a few days later, but detained again on July…
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Esono Ebalé, a cartoonist and blogger, was arrested in September 2017 on charges of money laundering and counterfeiting, but was interrogated about his cartoons of political figures by security agents. Charges against him were dropped in March 2018 and he is now abroad.
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Blogger Razeek was arrested in April 2020 after posting on Facebook regarding need for an “ideological Jihad” to stop organized anti-Muslim propaganda. In response, he and his family faced death threats. After reporting the harassment to the police, he was detained for five months before being released on bail, but…
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Washington Post columnist Ayyub has been targeted by multiple online harassment campaigns, resulting in doxxing, rape threats, and death threats. In 2018 and 2022, social media accounts made false claims that she had defended child rapists and that she hates all Indians. In March 2022, on her way to deliver…
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Arteaga, a rapper who has published songs on socio-political issues in Cuba, was arrested and detained during the 11J protests. In April 2022, he was sentenced to five years imprisonment.
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Farrah, a Canadian-Algerian researcher, human right defender, and contributing author of Algeria: The Future in Play, was arrested in February 2023 in Algeria as he was visiting relatives. He was accused of publishing classified information and receiving funds from foreign institutions with the intent to disrupt public order. His two-year…
Writers at Risk Database Key:
STATUS box that is red: Active case
STATUS box that is black: Inactive case
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.
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.