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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Adnan Zarra’ai
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Continued HarassmentAdonis Milán
Creative artist, DramatistCubaAmericasAfter being kicked out of three state-sponsored cultural institutions for his dissenting views, playwright Milan began working as an independent artist. Authorities monitor him closely; he has been placed under house arrest and preemptively detained twice.
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Recorded HarassmentAhdaf Soueif
Literary writerEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaA prominent novelist, Soueif was arrested on March 18, 2020 for protesting for the release of Egyptians left vulnerable to coronavirus in overcrowded prisons and faced charges of “illegal assembly.” She was released the following day on March 19, 2020 after being detained for 30 hours.
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Conditional ReleaseAhed Tamimi
Activist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaTamimi, a Palestinian activist, is author of They Called Me a Lioness. In November 2023, she was arrested in the West Bank for incitement based on an Instagram post (she denied writing it, alleging her account had been hacked). After being detained in Israeli custody for 3 weeks, she was…
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Recorded HarassmentAhmad Abdulhusain
Journalist, Online Commentator, PoetIraqMiddle East and North AfricaOn July 25, 2018, the head of the IMN, an Iraqi government holding company, issued an order terminating poet and journalist Abdulhusain as an editor-in-chief following his refusal to sign a pledge to not criticize government officials.
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ReleasedAhmad Qatamesh
Activist, Literary writer, ScholarIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaSeptugenarian literary writer and scholar Ahmad Qatamesh has been in and out of prison for a decade for his dissident political opinions and his membership in political organizations considered “unlawful” by the Israeli government. In October 2021 he was once again arrested for a lecture given at Birzeit University. Amnesty…
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Displaced/In ExileAhmad Waqass Goraya
Online CommentatorPakistanAsia-PacificGoraya disappeared in early 2020 after publishing a Facebook page critical of the government. Freed several weeks later, he moved to the Netherlands, claiming the Pakistani state tortured him “beyond limits.” In January 2022, an individual from London was found guilty of conspiracy to kill Goraya upon instruction by Pakistani-based…
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ConvictedAhmed Abdo Muhammad Maher
Literary writer, Online Commentator, ScholarEgyptMiddle East and North AfricaMaher is an Egyptian author, lawyer, and thinker charged with “contempt for Islam” for his book criticizing religious extremism. Charged in October 2021, less than a month later he was sentenced to 5 years in prison; the trial took place in an Emergency State Security court. He was granted a…
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DetainedAhmed Abu Damous
Online CommentatorIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaDamous worked in political analysis and translation before founding Facebook and Telegram pages on which he actively published news updates and political commentary. In October 2023, he was arrested from his home in the West Bank following tweets he posted about the Israeli occupation’s targeting of Palestinian civilians. By the…
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.