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
-
Status
Continued HarassmentÁngel Santiesteban Prats
Literary writer, Online CommentatorCubaAmericasAward-winning author Santiesteban has been subject to consistent harassment for his opposition to the Cuban regime on his blog Los Hijos que Nadie Quiso (The Children Who Nobody Loved). He was imprisoned from 2012-2017 for openly criticizing Raul Castro. Since his incarceration, he has become an outspoken advocate for free…
-
Status
Recorded ThreatÁngela Hernández Nuñez
Literary writer, PoetDominican RepublicAmericasA prolific poet and novelist, Hernández Nuñez was verbally attacked and threatened by anti-Haitian nationalists she encountered while walking in December 2018. This led to calls for her protection and for anti-hate legislation by global intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky.
-
Status
Recorded HarassmentAnisa Jafari-Mehr
Activist, JournalistIranMiddle East and North AfricaJafari-Mehr is a writer and literary critic at J, a Germany-based Kurdish-language magazine. She was arrested on November 23, 2020 for alleged “propaganda” and “acting against national security” until her conditional release on December 9. In April and June 2021, respectively, a court acquitted Jafari-Mehr of “propaganda” and “membership in…
-
Status
ImprisonedAnisha Asadollahi
Activist, Literary writer, TranslatorIranMiddle East and North AfricaTranslator, activist, and teacher Anisha Asadollahi was detained on May 9, 2022, when authorities raided her home, arresting her and her husband. She had been arrested twice before for labor activism. She was released on bail on August 20. In May 2023, she was convicted on charges of “propaganda against…
-
Status
MurderedAnna Politkovskaya
Journalist, Literary writerRussiaEurope and Central AsiaJournalist and writer Politkovskaya was found murdered in her apartment building’s foyer in central Moscow in October 2006, shot at point blank range. Her murder was widely suspected to be a contract killing for her reporting on human rights abuses and corruption, and justice in the case remains elusive. The…
-
Status
Displaced/In ExileAnnah Ashaba
Online Commentator, PoetUgandaSub-Saharan AfricaAnnah Ashaba, also known as Ashana, was forced to leave Uganda and flee to Israel, where she recieved a scholarship to continue her university education. In 2021, Ashaba wrote a satirical poem about Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni. She was subsequently summoned by Uganda’s Internal Security Organization, who reportedly attempted to…
-
Status
ConvictedAnouar Rahmani
Literary writer, Online CommentatorAlgeriaMiddle East and North AfricaSince 2017, Rahmani has been threatened with legal action for content in his books, including a gay relationship and a depiction of God. In November 2020, he was found guilty of “insulting the President of the Republic” and fined 50,000 dinar for online political writings. In 2022, he joined the…
-
Status
ConvictedAnte Tomić
Dramatist, Journalist, Literary writerCroatiaEurope and Central AsiaIn November 2019, writer and journalist Tomić was ordered to pay 15,000 HRK (US$ 4,300) in psychological damages, plus legal fees, to Croatia’s Minister of Culture after publishing a derogatory article about him in a Serbian newspaper. Despite this, Tomić continues his career, writing for the Croatian publication Jutarnji list.…
-
Status
Recorded HarassmentAntónio Aly Silva
Online CommentatorGuinea-BissauSub-Saharan AfricaFreelance journalist and editor of the blog Dictatorship of Consensus, António Aly Silva is a strong critic of President Úmaro Sissoco Embaló and the current regime. He was detained for nine hours for publishing photos of the coup in 2012. On March 9, 2021, he was abducted, robbed, and savagely…
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.