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
ImprisonedAblikim Kalkun
Creative artist, Singer/SongwriterChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificIn late 2019, Uyghur comedian and singer Kalkun was reportedly sentenced to 18 years in prison for performing songs deemed politically sensitive, despite the fact they were earlier approved by censors. He had also been detained in April 2018 for unclear reasons.
-
Status
DetainedAbliz Ömer
Editor, PublisherChina/Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificÖmer, a retired editor-in-chief, was arrested and detained in a sweep of staff at Uyghur-run Kashgar Publishing House in 2017 after the Chinese government declared that its books contained improper political content.
-
Status
ConvictedAbolhassan Kamali
Online Commentator, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaPoet Abolhassan Kamali was given a four-month suspended sentence of two years seven months imprisonment at home with an electronic handcuff on charges of blasphemy and spreading lies. The court additionally required him to attend congregational prayers in the mosque as part of his sentence.
-
Status
Displaced/In ExileAbraham Jiménez Enoa
Journalist, Online CommentatorCubaAmericasJiménez Enoa is a columnist at the Washington Post’s Post Opinión and a co-founder of online literary magazine El Estornudo. On October 1, 2020, he was threatened and briefly detained for writing for the Post. He has been regularly put on house arrest by state authorities: twice in 2019 and…
-
Status
DeceasedAbraham Serfaty
Activist, EditorMoroccoMiddle East and North AfricaPolitical dissident and editor of the literary magazine Souffles, Serfaty endured 17 years of imprisonment and 13 years of exile for his political views. His Moroccan citizenship was revoked upon his release from prison in 1991, but was reinstated in 1999.
-
Status
Continued HarassmentAbu Duyanah Tamayo
Activist, Journalist, Literary writer, PoetCubaAmericasA Muslim literary writer and poet, Tamayo has been a victim of multiple instances of harassment in Cuba. He claimed in a June 2022 interview that his internet access was purposely cut out. In October 2022, it was reported that Tamayo was stopped from leaving the country.
-
Status
ImprisonedAdel Banaima
Journalist, Online CommentatorSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaBanaima, a lecturer at the University of Umm Al-Qura in Mecca and editor-in-chief of Jusoor Magazine, was arrested and detained without charge in September 2017. Information about his status and condition has been extremely limited , but in January 2023 it was reported that he had been sentenced to a…
-
Status
On TrialAdnan Al-Rousan
Journalist, Online CommentatorJordanMiddle East and North AfricaAl-Rousan, a columnist, was arrested on August 14, 2022 for criticizing the King of Jordan via Facebook. He was charged with inciting conflict and sowing division among the elements of the nation, broadcasting false news that undermines the prestige of the state, defaming an official body, and humiliating a public…
-
Status
DisappearedAdnan Zarra’ai
DramatistSyriaMiddle East and North AfricaPlaywright and scriptwriter Zarra’ai was arrested in February 2012 and was detained incommunicado in the State Security Detention Centre in Damascus. His rib was reportedly broken by torture. He remained detained as of December 2018 with little information circulating about his condition, but in July 2020 photos of his corpse…
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.