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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Huang was detained in October 2019 after publicly supporting sexual assault survivors and creating a platform to promote survivor solidarity. She was released in early 2020, but police kept her passport and continued to surveil her. On September 19, 2021, Huang went missing before a flight; eight days later, RFA…
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Columnist, documentary filmmaker, and former editor-in-chief of Akhbar al-Youm, Raissouni has been detained since 2020. He is serving a 5-year prison sentence for sexual assault—charges which human rights advocates suspect are retaliatory, as part of a pattern of state authorities filing similar charges against prominent journalists. He is reported to…
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In January 2019, a group reportedly led by a member of the All Assam Bengali Hindu Association stormed an event where Bandyopadhyay, a poet previously under police investigation, was a guest. The group claimed that his poem ‘Abhishap’ (‘Curse’) was insulting to Hindu gods.
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Ukrainian writer Aseyev was kidnapped by pro-Russian militants in June 2017 and forced to confess to “spying.” For 3 years, he had published reports on life under Russian occupation in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk. He was released on December 29, 2019.
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In December 2012, a petition was filed against writer Dmitrievsky alleging his study on Chechnya was “extremist” in nature. In 2013, after expert evaluation of the study, the petition was rejected, but many fear the case represents an ongoing attempt to stifle Dmitrievsky.
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Dr. Nyanzi was imprisoned on cybercrime charges in 2018 for writing a poem she posted online using President Museveni’s birth as a metaphor to criticize his repressive rule. She was released in early 2020 but remains a target of harassment. She has sought asylum outside of Uganda as a result…
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Su Yadanar Myint, a member of the Peacock Generation satirical poetry troupe that specializes in the traditional art form of Thangyat, a type of slam poetry, was sentenced to a year and a half in prison for mocking the military in a performance that was also streamed online. In August…
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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.