Worldwide, writers are being persecuted more than ever, says PEN Germany, including by autocratic regimes who have weaponized pandemic restrictions.
Like many writers around the world, award-winning Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga is on trial for demonstrating Image: Jens Kalaene/picture alliance/dpa
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PEN: No freedom for the word
The German PEN center has listed author Salman Rushdie as an honorary member after the writer was attacked at an event in the US. The PEN center fights for the rights of persecuted authors and journalists.
The British-Indian author quickly earned the ire of Iran's Ayatollah after publishing his book "Satanic Verses" in 1988. The book makes several references to figures in Christianity and Islam, leading Ayatollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa against the writer and calling on Muslims all over the world to kill him. The book's Japanese translator was assasinated in 1991.
Maria Ressa is co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Rappler online news portal in the Philippines. Previously, she worked as a reporter for CNN. In the Philippines, the Nobel Peace Prize winner was the harshest critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte and his brutal anti-drug policy.
Image: Sikarin Thanachairy
Selahattin Demirtas
Turkish opposition politician Selahattin Demirtas ran against President Erdogan in the 2014 and 2018 elections. He has been held in a high-security prison since November 2016 for alleged terrorist propaganda. The European Court of Human Rights is demanding his release. Turkey, a member of the Council of Europe, is not responding. While in prison, Demirtas began writing.
Image: HDP
Rahile Dawut
Like hundreds of Uighur intellectuals, Rahile Dawut disappeared from public view without a trace in 2017. According to Human Rights Watch, the well-known ethnologist from Xinjiang was arrested during a crackdown on Uighur poets, academics, and journalists. She is presumably being held in an internment camp. The German PEN Center is campaigning for Rahile Dawut.
Image: Lisa Ross
Kakwenza Rukirabashaija
Rukirabashaija's case sheds light on the situation of freedom of expression in Uganda. The regime critic, author and lawyer was abducted and tortured in 2021 because of critical books and disrespectful tweets. With the help of PEN, he managed to escape to Germany, where he arrived in February 2022.
Image: Privat
Pham Doan Trang
Politically motivated charges and arrests — the government has targeted Vietnamese blogger and journalist Pham Doan Trang for her campaigning against environmental destruction, police violence and the oppression of minorities. Many human rights organizations and governments have been demanding her release after she was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2021.
Image: Thing Ngyen
Osman Kavala
When Turkish culture promoter Osman Kavala disappeared behind bars on flimsy charges in April 2022, it was not only PEN that protested. Amnesty International has also been calling for Kavala's release. The Council of Europe has repeatedly criticized Turkey's failure to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Image: Kerem Uzel/dpa/picture alliance
Tsitsi Dangarembga
Tsitsi Dangarembga, author and filmmaker, is once again on trial in her native Zimbabwe for anti-government protests. She is accused of inciting public violence, breach of peace and bigotry. Dangarembga received the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 2021. If found guilty, she faces several years in prison.
Image: Jens Kalaene/picture alliance/dpa
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The COVID pandemic has had a "devastating” effect on freedom of expression in many countries, according to the international writers association, PEN.
Writers, journalists and critics taking issue with COVID restrictions have been especially targeted. "The free word is unfree as never before. The world has not become better," said Cornelia Zetzsche, the newly-elected deputy president and chair of the Writers in Prison committee of the German PEN center in Darmstadt.
Online platforms for writers have been closed in many countries, PEN reports, while journalists in Bangladesh and Venezuela have landed in prison for allegedly spreading fake news. In Kazakhstan, poet Aron Atabek died in prison, having received no medical aid for a COVID infection.
In Uganda, author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was taken to hospital in January this year after being beaten in prison.
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Worldwide author repression
In many countries, autocrats have brutally suppressed freedom of expression, according to PEN. In Myanmar, at least five writers, including the poets Myint Myint Zin and K Za Win, were killed by the junta's security forces after participating in a peaceful demonstration.
In Afghanistan, PEN members Abdullah Atefi and Dawa Khan Menapal were shot after the Taliban regained power in August 2021.
Repression and use of force were characteristic of countries like Mexico, Bangladesh and Lebanon. In the Ethiopian region of Tigray, journalists who tried to report on the conflict were harassed and arrested. In Europe as well, the Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries was shot in Amsterdam in July 2021. Before his death, de Vries had been an adviser for a witness in the trial
of the alleged leader of a crime gang that police described as an "oiled killing machine."
Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries was murdered in 2021Image: dpa
Common accusations against writers
The new PEN report also points to problems in China, Turkey, Egypt and Iran as well — countries that have featured in the organization's case list for a long time.
Last week, on the fifth anniversary of the death of Chinese Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, PEN's headquarters in London published its latest case list of human rights abuses suffered by writers.
The rationale for such suppression is common across diverse regions, said Zetzsche of PEN's Writers in Prison committee.
Sometimes, writers are accused of jeopardizing national security. Other times, it is alleged that they belong to a terrorist organization.
"The cases are similar," said Zetzsche. "The instruments of suppression are always the same."
Mourning Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh
For over 25 years, Shireen Abu Akleh reported from the Palestinian territories and Israel. This week she was killed covering an Israeli military operation. She is considered a trailblazer in Arab media.
Image: Marwan Naamani/dpa/picture alliance
A veteran journalist
Shireen Abu Akleh spent over 25 years working as journalist for Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera. Abu Akleh, a Palestinian of Christian faith, lived and worked in East Jerusalem. Her coverage mainly focused on the Middle East conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. She often reported from dangerous places but was known for remaining calm and cautious.
Image: AFP
Killed while reporting
Abu Akleh and three colleagues set out on the morning of May 11, 2022, to report on an Israeli military operation against suspected terrorists in Jenin in the West Bank. Video footage shows all four wore helmets and vests identifying them as members of the press. Despite this, Abu Akleh was shot in the head. As yet, it is still unclear who fired the shot and why.
Image: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images
Exact circumstances remain unclear
The veteran journalist was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Palestinian doctors say the kind of bullet that struck and killed Abu Akleh is used by both sides. The Palestinians have rejected an Israeli proposal to launch a joint inquiry into the incident.
Image: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images
Casting blame at memorial service
A day after Abu Akleh was fatally shot, thousands gathered in Ramallah for a memorial service to commemorate the slain journalist. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called her death a "crime" and said the "Israeli occupation authorities" were responsible. Israel rejected the accusation.
Image: Eyad Jadallah/Zuma/IMAGO
Mourners around the world
Abu Akleh was well known in and beyond Israel and the Palestinian territories. According to the New York Times, Abu Akleh was one of the most prominent reporters in the Arab world, inspiring countless others, including many women, to pursue a career in journalism. Seen here is a Lebanese journalist mourning Abu Akleh's death.
Image: Bilal Hussein/AP Photo/picture alliance
Death of a trailblazer
Abu Akleh, who was born in Jerusalem, spent some time living in the US. She was able to obtain US citizenship through relatives. Abu Akleh joined Al Jazeera shortly after its foundation in 1996, becoming one of the broadcaster's very first reporters.
Image: AFP
Unrest precedes burial
This Friday, Abu Akleh was buried at Christian Orthodox cemetery near Jerusalem's old town. When mourners emerged from the hospital carrying her coffin, clashes erupted between Israeli security forces and Palestinians. Both sides accuse the other of having provoked the violence.
Image: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
Press freedom under attack
This Gaza City mural pays homage to Shireen Abu Akleh, drawing attention to the danger many journalists face. According to Reporters Without Borders, Abu Akleh is the 26th journalist to be killed this year because of their work, or during their work. Two media assistants also lost their lives. In 2021, 44 media professionals were killed while doing their jobs.
