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
ReleasedAsmamaw Hailegiorgis
Online CommentatorEthiopiaSub-Saharan AfricaHailegiorgis is one of the Zone 9 Bloggers, a group formed in 2012 to publish political commentary online in the face of tightening restrictions on expression. Following his initial arrest in 2014, he was released in 2015.
-
Status
Continued HarassmentAtef Abu Saif
Literary writer, Online CommentatorPalestinian TerritoriesMiddle East and North AfricaPalestinian author, columnist, and political figure Atef Abu Saif has reportedly been routinely detained by Hamas forces in Gaza. On March 18, 2019, he was beaten by unidentified assailants. They broke the fingers of his right hand and left him with serious injuries.
-
Status
Conditional ReleaseAtefeh Chaharmahalian
Activist, Literary writer, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaChaharmahalian is a literary activist, poet, and former board member of the Iranian Writers’ Association. She was arrested in October 2022 after receiving phone calls warning her not to participate in the ongoing protests. She was released in December 2022 on bail. She was ordered to serve her suspended sentence…
-
Status
DetainedAtena Farghadani
Activist, Creative artistIranMiddle East and North AfricaIn 2014, Farghadani was sentenced to over 12 years in prison for a cartoon she drew to criticize a family planning law, which depicted lawmakers as animals. Her sentence was extended for ‘indecent contact’ for shaking hands with her male lawyer. She was released in 2016 on appeal. Farghadani was…
-
Status
ImprisonedAtikem Rozi
Online Commentator, ScholarChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificRozi, a student of Ilham Tohti, was arrested for her involvement with Tohti’s website Uyghurbiz, which promotes mutual ethnic understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese. She was sentenced in a 2014 secret trial and has been held incommunicado since 2018.
-
Status
ReleasedAtnaf Berhane
Online CommentatorEthiopiaSub-Saharan AfricaBerhane is one of the Zone 9 Bloggers, a group formed in 2012 to publish political commentary online in the face of tightening restrictions on expression. The Ethopian Supreme Court levied criminal charges against Berhane in 2017 following his initial arrest in 2014.
-
Status
ReleasedAugustine Ford
Creative artist, Singer/SongwriterLiberiaSub-Saharan AfricaRapper Ford (AKA: A.Fo4doe) was harassed and detained by police in September 2018 after he was identified as the producer of a song that critiques government corruption. He was assaulted while in custody and was released one day later.
-
Status
ReleasedAung Myint
Activist, Journalist, PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificAung Myint, prolific writer and National League for Democracy (NLD) party member, was arrested for distributing information to the international press about the repression of the NLD. Originally sentenced to 21 years in prison in 2000, he was released in 2005.
-
Status
ImprisonedAung Naing Myint
Literary writerMyanmarAsia-PacificNovelist Aung Naing Myint, arrested in the past in connection to his writing, was detained on October 15, 2021 for allegedly being linked to the People’s Defense Forces, the armed civilian groups opposed to military rule. He was charged under Section 50 (j) of the Anti-Terrorism Law and sentenced to…
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.