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
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Status
Continued HarassmentG. Kalyan Rao
Literary writer, PoetIndiaAsia-PacificA contemporary writer and poet, Rao is the head of the Revolutionary Writers’ Association (Virasam). He was taken into “preventive custody” for a few hours in 2014. His home was searched twice in the last two years for being an “alleged Communist Party of India-Maoist sympathizer.” He was also suspected…
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Displaced/In ExileGabriela Selser
Journalist, Literary writerNicaraguaAmericasSelser is a journalist who wrote The truth about the 2018 rebellion in Nicaragua, which covers the start of President Ortega’s authoritative regime. She is also the author of 5 books which are mainly about the Nicaraguan revolution. In January 2022, Selser was stopped at the airport as she was…
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DetainedGalal El-Behairy
Poet, Singer/SongwriterEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaTargeted for his lyrics in the protest song “Balaha” and a book of poetry entitled The Finest Women on Earth, El-Behairy was detained in March 2018. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison on national security and “false news” charges. He remains jailed despite serving his full sentence. On…
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Conditional ReleaseGamal Al-Gamal
JournalistEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaA freelance columnist and well-known critic of President El-Sisi’s policies, Al-Gamal left Egypt in 2017. On February 22, 2021, upon returning from exile in Türkiye, he was detained and charged with spreading false news, joining a terrorist organization, and inciting public opinion against the state. Released on bail on July…
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ImprisonedGangkye Drubpa Kyab
Literary writer, Poet, ScholarChina/Tibet Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificGangkye Drubpa Kyab is a a poet, teacher, and essayist who has written on the 2008 Tibetan unrest and was jailed between 2012 and 2016 for his expression. He was arrested on March 23, 2021 in Kardze’s Sertha county for undisclosed reasons, and in October 2022 a report revealed that…
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Gangkye Drubpa Kyab Gang Metak
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Continued HarassmentGao Yu
Activist, JournalistChinaAsia-PacificGao Yu has been imprisoned three times for her dissident reporting, most recently in 2014, when she was sentenced to seven years for revealing state secrets. In November 2015, she was released on medical parole and is serving her sentence under house arrest.
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ReleasedGartse Jigme
Literary writerChina/Tibet Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificJigme was arrested after publication of his book ‘Tsenpoi Nyingtop’ (Tsenpo’s Valor) because it allegedly contained political views. He served five years in prison for “inciting ethnic separatism” and is now banned from speaking at public gatherings.
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Conditional ReleaseGaston Philippe Abe Abe
Singer/SongwriterCameroonSub-Saharan AfricaAbe Abe, known by his stage name Valsero, was arrested at a demonstration in Yaoundé and spent almost nine months in prison on trumped up charges, including terrorism. He weaves politics into his music, and is popular among youth listeners but draws ire from the government. As of March 25,…
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.