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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Xu, a noted essayist and public intellectual, had for decades advocated for good governance and citizen engagement through his writing. In February 2020, he was detained amid a crackdown on activists critical of Chinese government policies who had gathered in late December 2019. He was tried in secret in June…
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A leader of the Guizhou cultural revival movement, which called for increased literary freedom in China, Xue was jailed from 1987-90 and again from 1998-2001 for attempting to overthrow the socialist system through “rumormongering and slander.” He was released in July, 2001 after three and a half years in in…
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A founder of Bangladesh’s only LGBT magazine who was a high-profile face of the movement, Mannan was hacked to death on April 25, 2016 by Al-Qaeda-linked extremists, along with a colleague. Their murderers have not yet been brought to justice.
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Rozi is a Uyghur writer, literary critic, and historical researcher. Rozi was detained in October 2016 and formally arrested two months later for inciting separatism. Convicted in January 2018 in a sham trial, Rozi now serves a sentence of 15 years in prison for inciting subversion of state power for…
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Levya, an art critic and co-founder of the Museum of Dissidence in Cuba, was arrested in December 2018 while protesting Decree 349, a law that criminalizes unauthorized forms of artistic expression. She was released in January 2019 and now lives in exile.
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Chinese-born Australian writer Yang was seized by Chinese authorities during a visit to China in January 2019. Held incommunicado and interrogated for nearly two years, he was formally charged with espionage in late 2020 and his closed-door trial was held in May 2021. In February 2024, he was given a…
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In December 2019, artist Yang Licai was arrested on charges of inciting disruption. His arrest was closely linked to posts he made online in support of Hong Kong protesters. This is not Yang’s first encounter with the Chinese authorities. In 2010, he was detained while protesting the government’s demolition of…
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.