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Welcome to the Writers in Prison Committee of International P.E.N. (WIPC)'s electronic newsletter. This newsletter provides the latest news from theWiPC and P.E.N. Centres worldwide. Any comments and suggestions about the content and layout of the newsletter, as well as contributions from P.E.N. Centres, will be gratefully received at intpen@gn.apc.org.
One month ahead of International Human Rights Day on 10 December, P.E.N. Centres world-wide staged a campaign around the tenth anniversary of Ken Saro-Wiwa's execution on 10 November. Public events such as poetry and play readings, performances of the play by Helon Habila based on prison notes by Ken Saro Wiwa (most notably performed in a circus tent/arts centre in Mexico), public lectures and exhibitions, proved to be among the most successful events. The campaign illustrated the breadth of the issues and diversity of actions that P.E.N. Centres can take on behalf of persecuted writers.
This year the International P.E.N. Day of the Imprisoned Writer, usually held on 15 November, was moved to 10 November to coincide with the Ken Saro-Wiwa anniversary. A number of Centres commemorated Ken Saro-Wiwa in events that also drew attention to the cases chosen for this year's imprisoned writer day (Orhan Pamuk, Shi Tao, Dr Roya Toloui, Paul Kamara and Victor Rolando Arroyo). Basque P.E.N. hosted a conference on Nigeria highlighting Ken Saro Wiwa and the Day of the Imprisoned Writer, while Austrian P.E.N. held an exhibition for the Day of the Imprisoned writer in Vienna where a poetry reading included work by Ken Saro-Wiwa was also held. Other Centres used the occasion to highlight other concerns such as terrorism.
For more information on both the Ken Saro Wiwa and Day of Imprisoned Writer Actions to:
www.internationalpen.org.uk
In the Netherlands, the NOVIB/P.E.N. Awards for Freedom of Expression was given at a ceremony held at the Crossing Borders festival in the Hague on 19th November. Tunisian internet activist and journalist picked up the award on behalf of herself and fellow activist Nejiba Reziha. Others awarded included Sarah Makhonze of Swaziland, Duong Thu Huong of Vietnam and Claudia Anthony of Sierra Leone.
For more on this go to
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.php?pid=33&aid=410
and to the
Novib website http://www.novib.nl
International P.E.N. Writers in Prison Committee Chair, Karin Clark, and Programme Director Sara Whyatt, joined the International Freedom of Expression Exchange Tunisia Monitoring Group delegation that attended the World Summit on Information Society in Tunis 14-18 November. Attacks against freedom of expression and civil society activists became a prominent issue at the Summit, already controversial for being hosted in a country where freedom of expression is severely curtailed.
For information on the IFEX TMG go to: http://campaigns.ifex.org/tmg/
Leading members of International P.E.N. were in Istanbul on 22 November to take part in an international panel on freedom of expression on Turkey..
This meeting coincided with the continued court hearings against publisher Ragip Zarakolu, a long-time dissent publisher currently facing trial in three
separate cases. A large delegation of P.E.N. members, other human rights NGOs and Turkish writers and journalists took the opportunity to take time out
to observe Zarakolu's trial and support their colleague. Orhan Pamuk, the world renowned writer, himself to come before the courts on similar charges,
was also present.
For more on Ragip Zarakolu go to:
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.php?pid=33&aid=409&query=zara
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.php?pid=33&aid=406
Turkish Armenian Writer, Hrant Dink, on trial in Turkey, imprisoned journalist Sobirjon Yakubov in Uzbekistan, and writer Rakhim Esenov, living under restriction in Turkmenistan have all recently been elected as honorary members to the English, German and Belgian (Flemish) P.E.N. Centres.
For more information on these cases contact: Sara Whyatt, Programme Director, swhyatt@wipcpen.org
An English P.E.N./Penguin book, 'Free Expression is No Offence', was published in November. Edited by Lisa Appignanesi, it includes essays by Salman Rushdie, Hanif Kureishi, Monica Ali, Hari Kunzru, Howard Jacobson, Helena Kennedy and many more. Copies available from: amazon.co.uk
Also visit www.englishpen.org
The September issue of the Sydney P.E.N. Quarterly includes a feature on Ken Saro-Wiwa and an excerpt from Wole Soyinka's celebrated 2004 BBC Reith Lectures, 'Climate of Fear'. Julian Burnside puts the threat to national security into perspective, while Jack Durack charges P.E.N. members to be vigilant in the face of these very real threats to our rights to liberty and freedom of expression.
For more go to: www.pen.org.au
A new edition of Ken Saro-Wiwa's prison diaries was published by Ayebia in November. 'A Month and a Day & Letters' records Saro-Wiwa's arrest in July 1993, and the story of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and the struggle against Shell and the Nigerian military dictatorship. This edition includes a new foreword by Wole Soyinka, a letter by Ken Wiwa to his late father 10 years on, and previously unpublished letters smuggled to and from Ken during his final imprisonment.
Available from: www.ayebia.co.uk
For a comprehensive overview of attacks on freedom of expression world-wide updated daily, check the International Freedom of Expression Exchange, a network of international, regional and national freedom of expression organisations who exchange information and stage joint actions on behalf of writers and journalists attacked in the practice of their professions.
24 November 2005: Turkey: Ragip Zarakolu Trials to Continue into New Year
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.php?pid=33&aid=409&query=zarakolu
23 November 2005: Eritrea: Journalist re-imprisoned after apparent release
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.php?pid=33&aid=408&query=eritrea
22 November 2005: Bangladesh: Journalist killed.
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.php?pid=33&aid=407&query=bangladesh
21 November 2005: Turkey: P.E.N. Condemns Trials against Publishers Fatih Tas and Ragip Zarakolu
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.php?pid=33&aid=406&query=fatih%20tas
18 November 2005: Turkey: Alarm at the number of writers and publishers facing prosecution
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.php?pid=33&aid=403&query=penal%20code
17 November 2005: Ethiopia: Journalists and academics arrested in government clampdown
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.php?pid=33&aid=404&query=ethiopia
10 November 2005: Democratic Republic of Congo: Columnist and wife killed
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.php?pid=33&aid=401&query=congo
9 November 2005: Syria: Writer and medical doctor Abdul Aziz Al-Khayer released.
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.php?pid=33&aid=402&query=abdul%20aziz
9 November 2005: Iran: Dissident journalist Akbar Ganji reportedly tortured and ill-treated; serious health concerns.
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.php?pid=33&aid=399&query=akbar%20ganji
4 November 2005: Libya: Internet journalist sentenced to 18 months in prison
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.php?pid=33&aid=398&query=libya
26 October 2005: Algeria: Grave concern for the health of journalist Mohammed Benchicou
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.php?pid=33&aid=389&query=benchicou
Anti-Terrorism, Writers and Freedom of Expression - a P.E.N. report.
Click here for English, French and Spanish versions.
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/dev/viewArticles.asp?findID_=41
Click here for the German version
http://www.pen-deutschland.de/deutsch/download/Anti-Terrorismus_IPWiPC.doc
WiPC Caselist Jan to June 2005 now available
http://internationalpen.org.uk/images/newsItemDownload/1129640016.pdf
Past weekly newsletters are accessible from the WiPC newsletter archive page.
If you would like to unsubscribe please e-mail intpen@gn.apc.org with 'unsubscribe' in the subject line.
The Writers in Prison Committee of International P.E.N. works on behalf of persecuted writers worldwide. Established in 1960 in response
to increasing attempts to silence voices of dissent by imprisoning writers, the Writers in Prison Committee is today monitoring the cases
of over 900 writers who have been imprisoned, tortured, threatened, attacked, disappeared and killed for the peaceful practice of their
profession. It coordinates the International P.E.N. membership's campaign towards an end to these attacks and an end to the suppression
of freedom of expression worldwide.
For more information about P.E.N., please visit our website www.internationalpen.org.uk. For information about a particular P.E.N. Centre,
contact details for each of our Centres are available from the Centres page of our website.
For further information please contact
Sara Whyatt - WiPC Programme Director
at swhyatt@wipcpen.org
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