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
ConvictedNima Ghasemi
Journalist, Literary writer, ScholarIranMiddle East and North AfricaGhasemi, a philosophy scholar who holds a PhD from Shahid Beheshti University, was arrested in February 2021 and taken to Evin Prison where he was kept in solitary confinement until March 14, 2021. He was charged with “conspiracy and propaganda against the system,” related to articles on sensitive political and…
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Continued HarassmentNima Saffar
Activist, Literary writer, Online Commentator, PoetIranMiddle East and North AfricaSaffar is a poet and writer who has a long history of arrests due to activism dating back to 2012. In February 2020, he was released early from an 8-month prison sentence due to COVID-19. In October 2021, he was interrogated by authorities due to messages on Instagram. In June…
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ReleasedNizametdin Akhmetov
Activist, PoetRussiaEurope and Central AsiaPoet and the first PEN Freedom to Write honoree, Akhmetov was arrested in 1966 on fabricated charges of theft for association with a movement advocating for the return of Tatar people to Crimea. While imprisoned for 18 years, he continued to write against the Soviet state.
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Custodial/Wrongful DeathNizar Al-Banat
Activist, Literary writer, Online CommentatorPalestinian TerritoriesMiddle East and North AfricaAl-Banat was a literary writer and a prominent human rights activist who was critical of the Palestinian Authority (PA) on social media. His home was attacked by PA forces on June 24, 2021 at 3am, when he was beaten and then arrested. His death in custody was announced several hours…
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Displaced/In ExileNizar Nayouf
Activist, Journalist, PoetSyriaMiddle East and North AfricaPoet, journalist, and activist Nizar Nayouf was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1992 for his membership in the banned Committee for the Defense of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria and for serving as editor-in-chief of its newsletter. He was released in 2001 after enduring years of…
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Displaced/In ExileNonardo Perea
Creative artist, Dramatist, Journalist, Literary writerCubaAmericasPerea is a novelist, columnist, and multidisciplinary artist who was forced into exile by the government. They have faced police interrogations and a formal warning issued preventing them from leaving their home in December 2018. Perea is also a founding member of the Movimiento San Isidro. Since leaving Cuba, Perea…
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Recorded HarassmentNorman Tumuhimbise
Activist, Journalist, Literary writerUgandaSub-Saharan AfricaWhile promoting his new book on political corruption in Uganda, The Liars and Accomplices, Tumuhimbise was arrested on March 10, 2022 for “offensive communication.” He was released on bail after 11 days, and now faces charges of “cyber-stalking” President Yoweri Museveni. In 2015, Tumuhimbise was tortured and detained for his…
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Displaced/In ExileNormando Hernández González
Activist, JournalistCubaAmericasNormando Hernández González was arrested in a 2003 roundup of dissidents known as the Black Spring. He was subsequently sentenced to 25 years in prison, where he was held in appalling conditions. González was released in 2010 after multilateral talks in which Cuba agreed to release those jailed in the…
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Conditional ReleaseNouf Abdulaziz
Activist, Journalist, Online CommentatorSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaSaudi Arabian columnist and women’s rights activist Nouf Abdulaziz was arrested and detained in June 2018. While in detention, she was reportedly tortured and sexually harassed. Following international pressure Abdulaziz’s secret trial session in criminal court began on February 19, 2020. After prolonged delays in her trial, and while it…
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.