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
Status
Known as “the voice of Palestine,” Abu Akleh spent 25 years reporting on the Palestinian struggle for freedom, writing about life under Israeli occupation, and providing critical commentary on human rights abuses, media restrictions, and free expression issues. On May 11, 2022, while covering an Israeli military raid in the…
Status
A founder of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, Ahari has been jailed several times for her work documenting the suffering of Iranians. Most recently, she was imprisoned from 2012-2016 at Evin Prison. In 2018, she sought refuge in Slovenia to continue her activism.
Status
Nijat, a student of Ilham Tohti, was arrested for his involvement with Tohti’s website Uyghurbiz, which promotes mutual ethnic understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese. He was sentenced in a 2014 secret trial and has been held incommunicado since 2018.
Status
Poet Shwe Kyal Moe was arrested and detained on March 27, 2021 while taking part in a protest led by poets on Pansodan Road in downtown Yangon. During these protests, poets took part in readings and sold poems and art to oppose the February 1 military coup. He was released…
Status
Status
Pourzand, former manager of a cultural center and frequent cultural commentator, passed away after falling from his apartment balcony; though it is unclear whether he jumped or was pushed. He had previously been arrested, disappeared, and held incommunicado for his writing.
Status
A linguist and literary critic, Haranin was arrested after a raid on the National Academy of Science (NAS) for the Belarusian Culture, Language, and Literature in October 2022. He was later released from administrative detention in November 2022. He went on to write about the conditions of detention and torture…
Status
A member of PEN Belarus, Miadzvedzeu was detained at a peaceful protest in Minsk on September 8, 2020, after the election of Aleksander Lukashenka. He was conditionally released the following day. He awaits his trial date.
Status
Krasnabarod, a writer and editor at the Gomel Plus Radio Station, also wrote political poetry. In May 2023, he was arrested along with colleagues for “distribution of extremist materials” ostensibly based on their membership in a Telegram group, and was sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest.
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.