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
Conditional ReleaseHadi Hakim Shahafi
Online Commentator, Scholar, TranslatorIranMiddle East and North AfricaAn online commentator and academic writer, Hadi Hakim Shahafi was first arrested in December 2019 and spent 10 days in detention. He was imprisoned on February 22, 2022, and released temporarily on April 28, 2022. Shahafi was rearrested on October 1, 2022 and sentenced to one year in prison for…
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Recorded HarassmentHafiz Ahmed
Poet, ScholarIndiaAsia-PacificHafiz Ahmed is one of the “Miya” (Bengali-language Muslim) poets charged in July 2019 after the online publication of his poem, “I am Miya,” which authorities claimed promoted sectarian enmity in the state of Assam. On July 17, 2019, all ten poets were granted anticipatory bail.
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DetainedHai Zhang
Journalist, Online CommentatorChinaAsia-PacificHai is a journalist and online activist. He was arrested and forcibly disappeared in February 2023 after expressing support for the “white-hair-movement,” an elderly group protesting health care reforms. In April 2023, Hai was charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Since his arrest, he has been held incommunicado and…
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ImprisonedHailaite Niyazi
Journalist, Online CommentatorChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificA former columnist, Niyazi also managed the Uyghurbiz website—Ilham Tohti’s website, which aimed to promote understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese—and worked as senior reporter for the Xinjiang Economic Daily. He had publicly criticized government policies toward Uyghurs. After a one-day sham trial in 2010, he was convicted of endangering…
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Custodial/Wrongful DeathHaji Mirzahid Kerimi
Editor, Literary writer, PoetChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificKerimi, a former staff member of Kashgar Publishing House, was arrested and detained for his role in publishing books deemed “problematic” by Chinese authorities due to their “improper” political content. He also wrote novels focused on the golden age of Uyghur history. After numerous arrests since 1959, he was sentenced…
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ReleasedHajooj Kuka
Creative artistSudanSub-Saharan AfricaIn August 2020, authorities raided a cultural center in Khartoum where Hajooj Kuka and other artists were rehearsing a play at a threater workshop, following a reported noise complaint. Kuka, however, claims that non-state actors physically attacked participants of the workshop. In September, Kuka was briefly jailed on public nuisance…
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Under ThreatHamid Mir
Journalist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorPakistanAsia-PacificOn April 24, 2024, journalist and author Hamid Mir filed a complaint to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against Jan Achakzai, a former information minister, for defamation and insults on Twitter. On April 28, journalist Imran Riaz Khan reported threats against Mir, stating that “preparations are being made to take…
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ReleasedHaneen al-Masaeed
Activist, Online Commentator, Singer/SongwriterIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaOn October 11, 2023, Israeli forces raided singer/songwriter and activist Haneen al-Masaeed’s home in Aida Camp in Bethlehem, confiscated her phone, and detained her. She was ultimately charged with incitement, but released on November 28, 2023. In January 2024, she gave an interview recounting her experience in the Israeli prison…
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ReleasedHanım Büşra Erdal
JournalistTürkiyeEurope and Central AsiaOn July 26, 2016, reporter and columnist Hanım Büşra Erdal was detained and ordered to jail on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” in a sweep of journalists writing for popular Turkish newspaper Zaman. Zaman was forced to close after the attempted 2016 coup. On March 8, 2018, she…
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.