Writers in Prison Committee Case List

The latest edition of the Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN's twice yearly caselist is now available to download .

In the past year, the WiPC monitored over 1,000 attacks reported in that period, it is clear that the pattern of arrests, threats and even killings of those who speak out has not abated.

Among them are 55 writers and journalists killed in 2007, a shockingly high figure, almost double the figure for previous years. While it is not always possible to be completely sure that the killings were directly linked to the victims' writings, it is clear that at least 18 were deliberately targeted. Among them was the courageous editor, Hrant Dink, assassinated in Turkey for his commentary on the Armenian genocide and whose death lead to mass protests. Most dangerous place of all to be in 2007 was Iraq where 21 print journalists were murdered alongside more working in the broadcast media.

International PEN members world wide have stood up to protest these attacks, responding to the 105 Rapid Action Alerts issued on urgent cases in the last year, with letters of protest and public awareness rising. Eighty-four of the cases on PEN's records have been elected as Honorary Members of PEN Centres whose members develop close contact with them and their families, and to campaign on their behalf. In 2007 a WiPC campaign was staged on Criminal Defamation and Insult Laws that are widely used to quell government critics, which focussed on Turkey, Egypt, Mexico, the European Union, Africa. In 2008 the focus will be on China as the Beijing Games approach and, later in the year, on free expression in the Americas.

Writers in Prison Committee Case list July-December 2007