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 ReleaseKunchok Tsephel Gopey Tsang
Editor, Literary writer, Poet, ScholarChina/Tibet Autonomous RegionAsia-PacificKunchok Tsephel, founder of the Tibetan literary website Chomei, was arrested in 2009 and sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of disclosing state secrets, though the specific reasons for the charge remain unclear. He was released in March 2022 under restrictive conditions that limit his movement and activities.…
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Recorded HarassmentKureepuzha Sreekumar
PoetIndiaAsia-PacificMalayalam poet Sreekumar was targeted by right-wing protestors on his way home from making a speech in which he criticized Hindutva groups for their stance on the construction of a caste wall. The ruling BJP later called for him to be investigated for inciting violence. In February 2018, six individuals…
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Custodial/Wrongful DeathKyaw Min Yu
Activist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorMyanmarAsia-PacificLiterary writer and prominent pro-democracy activist “Ko Jimmy,” imprisoned multiple times previously, was charged over his Facebook posts in February 2021 and arrested in October; a military tribunal sentenced him to death on January 21, 2022 on treason and terrorism charges. He wrote a best selling book Making Friendship, and…
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ReleasedKyaw Soe Oo
Journalist, PoetMyanmarAsia-PacificReuters reporter Kyaw Soe Oo was a 2018 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award honoree. He was arrested in December 2017 along with his colleague Wa Lone after they covered a massacre in Rakhine State. Both writers received seven-year prison sentences in 2018 for allegedly obtaining state secrets. Though their sentences…
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Conditional ReleaseLama Ghosheh
Journalist, Online Commentator, ScholarIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaA journalist and online commentator, Ghosheh also worked as a researcher at the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit. She was arrested at her home in August 2022 after sharing social media posts and detained for two weeks. She was released into house arrest on September 13, pending trial proceedings. Ghosheh was…
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ReleasedLama Khater
Journalist, Online CommentatorIsrael/Occupied Palestinian TerritoryMiddle East and North AfricaAn outspoken critic of both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, columnist Lama Khater was arrested without charges by Israeli soldiers on July 24, 2018, and later sentenced to 13 months in prison as well as a 4,000 shekel fine for alleged links to Hamas.…
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ReleasedLázaro Leonardo Rodríguez Betancourt
Creative artist, Singer/SongwriterCubaAmericasIn 2018, rapper Pupito en Sy was jailed for nine months after rapping in protest of Decree 349, a law restricting artistic expression in Cuba. He later was detained in 2019 for refusing to allow health inspectors in his house and retaliatory “resistance” and “spreading epidemics” charges. While imprisoned, he…
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ReleasedLazhari Labter
Journalist, Literary writer, Poet, TranslatorAlgeriaMiddle East and North AfricaLabter, a journalist and author of Cuillere et Autre Petits Rien (Spoon and Other Small Things), gained significant attention for his journalistic and literary writing during the Hirak protest movement. On November 20, 2022, he was arrested in his home. He was released from custody on November 28 after appearing…
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ReleasedLe Anh Hung
Journalist, Online CommentatorVietnamAsia-PacificIn July 2018, authorities arrested blogger Le Anh Hung and charged him with “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon state interests.” In October, he went on hunger strike and was involuntarily transferred to a psychiatric institution. While institutionalized, he reported being forcibly injected and restrained. In May 2022, in a…
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.