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
Recorded HarassmentJavier L. Mora
Journalist, Literary writer, Poet, TranslatorCubaAmericasMora is a contemporary poet and founding member of Archipiélago, a civic group advocating for democracy and civil rights in Cuba. He was arrested on July 16, 2021 after he posted on social media denouncing the treatment of protesters during the 11J demonstrations. While he has been released from detention,…
-
Status
Recorded HarassmentJavier Moreno Díaz
Activist, PoetCubaAmericasJavier Moreno Díaz has been harrassed and arrested by the Cuban government in an effort to stop protests against Decree 349, a restrictive 2018 referendum that mandates all public exhibitions, performances, and artistic events be authorized by Cuba’s Ministry of Culture.
-
Status
ReleasedJavier Rebolledo Escobar
Journalist, Literary writerChileAmericasIn July 2018, journalist and author Rebolledo was charged with “serious insult” over his nonfiction book Chameleon: The Double Life of a Communist Agent, which explored espionage and political betrayal. He was acquitted that October. In March 2021, he co-authored another investigative book alleging that private investigator Rómulo Aitken Hellec…
-
Status
MurderedJavier Valdez Cárdenas
Journalist, Literary writerMexicoAmericasIn May 2017, Valdez Cárdenas was shot dead by unknown assailants in Culiacán, Sinaloa State. The authorities arrested two men suspected of being accomplices in the murder. In January 2019, a drug trafficker attributed his murder to power struggles within the cartel. In 2024, authorities identified Dámaso López Serrano, a…
-
Status
ReleasedJean Mario Paul
JournalistHaitiAmericasPaul has been well-known for his stories exposing local government corruption. In the September 1991 military coup that deposed President Aristide, Paul was arrested and brutally tortured in police detention. He was released with charges dropped in April 1992.
-
Status
ReleasedJean-Claude Kavumbagu
JournalistBurundiSub-Saharan AfricaThe first online journalist imprisoned in sub-Saharan Africa, Kavumbagu has been arrested six times by six consecutive Burundi governments for dissident reporting. Most recently, he was jailed in July 2010 for treason but released nine months later.
-
Status
Continued HarassmentJeferson Tenório
Literary writerBrazilAmericasTenório, author of The Back of the Skin (O Avesso da Pele), received multiple death threats during a promotional tour in São Paulo in March 2022. His book, which explores racial identity and violence, earned him the prestigious 2021 Jabuti Prize. After receiving threats via Instagram, Tenório filed a police…
-
Status
ImprisonedJi Xiao Long
Online CommentatorChinaAsia-PacificChinese activist Ji Xiao Long was sentenced to three and a half years in prison on January 14, 2018 for supporting the “toilet revolution” protest against the Chinese Communist Party. Following his release in 2021, he continued his activism, publishing an open letter in 2022 condemning the government’s “zero COVID”…
-
Status
DisappearedJihad As’ad Mohamed
JournalistSyriaMiddle East and North AfricaMohamed was a columnist and former editor-in-chief who wrote critical opinion pieces on the Syrian government and was supportive of the revolution. He was arrested on August 10, 2013 and his whereabouts have been unknown since. Rumors on his death have circulated in the past; however, his family is still…
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.