ANNUAL REPORT 2015/2016
THE POLITICS OF FEAR AND THE EROSION OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
A Syrian refugee girl flashes V-sign as they wait at Esenler Bus Terminal on September 16, 2015 Istanbul, Turkey. Getty ImagesÂ
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ON THE FRONTLINE
1
THE PEN CHARTER
3
MESSAGE FROM PEN INTERNATIONAL’S PRESIDENT
5
MESSAGE FROM PEN INTERNATIONAL’S SECRETARY
7
MESSAGE FROM PEN INTERNATIONAL’S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
9
2015/2016 HIGHLIGHTS
11
CREATING SPACE – LITERARY HIGHLIGHTS
14
PEN INTERNATIONAL’S ANNUAL CONGRESS
16
DEFENDING FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
17
SPEAKING OUT FOR THE SILENCED
19
WRITERS AT RISK
20
IN FOCUS: BANGLADESH
21
IN FOCUS: IRAN THE CASE OF MAHVASH SABET
23 24
IN FOCUS: MEXICO THE CASE OF NOÉ ZAVALETA
25 25
IN FOCUS: TURKEY THE CASE OF CUMHURIYET
27 29
KEEPING UP THE PRESSURE – PEN’S GLOBAL ADVOCACY
30
AN INTRODUCTION TO PEN INTERNATIONAL’S CIVIL SOCIETY PROGRAMME
31
WITH THANKS
35
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
37
Members of the public attend a vigil for the victims of Charlie Hebdo in front of the Statue of Marianne at Place de la Republiqu on 8 January 2015. Getty Images
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ON THE FRONTLINE Over the last two years, PEN International’s work has continued within an ever-deteriorating climate for freedom of expression across the globe. 2015 began with the lethal attacks on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, putting freedom of expression on the frontline in Europe. Following the attack, countries including France, Britain and Germany proposed - and in some cases passed controversial laws giving sweeping new powers to intelligence agencies to spy on their citizens. The increasing use of mass surveillance programmes has had a damaging impact on free expression with increased self-censorship worldwide.
Acts of terrorism - increasingly conflated with the refugee crisis - created an environment of xenophobia and fear. With the discourse and result of the Brexit referendum, the election of Donald Trump, and the rise of populism in Europe, the on-going conflicts in Syria and Iraq, the world has seen a growing climate of nationalism and lack of solidarity towards ‘the other’. Fake news and the public’s loss of confidence in ‘facts’ have ushered in a new age of ‘post truth’ or ‘alternative facts’.
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Writers and journalists are facing on-going armed conflicts, political crises and instability around the world. Many of them have been subjected to harassment, threats, arbitrary arrest and detention, enforced disappearance, kidnapping, torture and extra-judicial killings. This oppression is conducted both by state and non-state actors. Since the beginning of the Arab uprising in December 2010, when extremist groups seized control of areas of the Middle East, such as in Syria and Iraq, there have been systematic violations of human rights. In such regions, media has effectively been shut down and journalism activities have been entirely banned. Impunity continues for attacks and murders on writers both by state and non-state actors such as organised crime cartels or religious extremists, and authoritarian governments seeking to silence debate or criticism both off and online. For example, government crackdowns have resulted in the continued silencing of independent media in Turkey and China; writers and journalists have been prosecuted for criminal defamation in countries like Angola and Peru, or for blasphemy or apostasy in Egypt, Mauritania and Saudi Arabia, and on spurious charges of ‘supporting terrorism’ in countries such as Ethiopia. Ongoing and protracted conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East have contributed to the ongoing outflow of writers fleeing their homelands and seeking refuge. Against this bleak backdrop, PEN and its members continue to extend their solidarity and support to individual writers, and to challenge structural and perilous threats to expression. PEN and its work are more necessary than ever before.
‘When political people have finished with repression and violence, PEN can indeed be forgotten. Until then, it is still a fellowship moved by the hope that one day the work it tries and often manages to do will no longer be necessary’ Arthur Miller, PEN International President 1966-1969
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View of a working session during the World Congress of PEN International. Switzerland 1947. Getty Images
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PEN CHARTER PEN stands for the principle of unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and between all nations.
PEN affirms that: 1. Literature knows no frontiers and must remain common currency among people in spite of political or international upheavals. 2. In all circumstances, and particularly in time of war, works of art, the patrimony of humanity at large, should be left untouched by national or political passion. 3. Members of PEN should at all times use what influence they have in favour of good understanding and mutual respect between nations; they pledge themselves to do their utmost to dispel race, class and national hatreds, and to champion the ideal of one humanity living in peace in one world. 4. PEN stands for the principle of unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and between all nations, and members pledge themselves to oppose any form of suppression of freedom of expression in the country and community to which they belong, as well as throughout the world wherever this is possible. PEN declares for a free press and opposes arbitrary censorship in times of peace. It believes that the necessary advance of the world towards a more highly organised political and economic order renders a free criticism of governments, administrations and institutions imperative. And since freedom implies voluntary restraint, members pledge themselves to oppose such evils of a free press as mendacious publication, deliberate falsehood and distortion of facts for political and personal ends.
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PEN International president Jennifer Clement
MESSAGE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT When I was elected to be the President of PEN International in 2015, I knew much had to be done across the world to promote literature and defend freedom of expression, this most basic and fundamental human right. Over the two decades of my involvement with PEN, I have witnessed that where freedom of expression is denied, the violation of other fundamental rights inevitably follow. 2015 and 2016 have seen the rise of nationalism and populism fuelled by divisive rhetoric. From America, to Russia, to Turkey and across Europe, we have seen politics of fear and uncertainty take hold and silence free and independent voices. PEN International and its 146 Centres across the globe have been on the frontline of protecting free expression and staying true to the mission of the PEN Charter.
Over the last two years, PEN has focused on creating gender balance across all of our work, protecting the rights of the writer through our Copyright Manifesto, continuing our expert research, and campaigning on behalf of writers at risk, and providing protection for those in need. The role of the writer in contributing to equality and justice continues to be at the heart of what we do. Solidarity with one another, to be the voice of our silenced colleagues, to shine a light in the darkest corners of the world, where our friends are being held; that is what we do. For the Day of the Imprisoned Writer, Margaret Atwood wrote to the Turkish writer Asli Erdogan who was being held in pre-trial detention in Turkey:
Turkish novelist Asli Erdogan (R) comes out of Bakirkoy, a women’s prison on 29 December 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey, after more than four months of detention. Getty Images
‘I have faith that you will very soon be free. I hope that you will find yourself in a Turkey where you can write and speak without fear and censorship, a Turkey that celebrates diversity of thought and opinion. I hope you will live in a Turkey that is proud of the voices of its talented thinkers, writers, and artists who have reached so many admirers far beyond its borders. I hope you will live in a Turkey that is proud of its democracy – a Turkey that is proud of voices like yours’
After spending over four months in prison, Asli was released after her health deteriorated. We spent some time together recently in Istanbul. She wrote to me afterwards, saying: ‘I thank all PEN members, all the writers and poets and editors who have relentlessly supported me and other imprisoned writers and journalist, Your solidarity was my only hope and still is the only light while I am trying to grope my way back to life, to my own life which the tyrants have mercilessly robbed away from me. Simply because I had tried to be the voice of the victim.’ We are one of the world’s oldest human rights organisations. We have been the voice of the voiceless for almost 100 years. Our strength is our global membership who continue to stand in solidarity with one another.
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MESSAGE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY In a world where writing – as a practice and a skill – is becoming more commonplace than ever, guaranteeing the safety of writers and journalists to freely tackle all topics without being afraid for their lives has become a challenge. Gruesome events in Bangladesh and India, mass arrests and the silencing of writers in Turkey and China are the daily realities, reminding us that sometimes a writer’s profession can be life-threatening. Over the course of the last year, PEN has re-doubled its efforts to support writers at risk worldwide through global campaigns targeting the press, governments and other human rights organisations. Fighting for the freedom of unlawfully imprisoned writers is one of the central goals of PEN’s agenda. Our other goal is the promotion of literature in all corners of the world as a means to create dialogue, understanding and peace. PEN International’s Writers and Publishers Circles have played a key role in this.
PEN is responding to the refugee crisis, digital safety and self-censorship. The significant partnership between PEN and the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN) continues as more and more writers are forced to leave their homes and seek refuge elsewhere. Over the coming months and years, we will be working with PEN Centres all around the world to create spaces for writers fleeing political repression. The events of recent years – from the Charlie Hebdo attacks to the murders of bloggers in Bangladesh and the rise of xenophobia in America and Europe – have once again reminded us of the power of the written word. These tragic and disturbing events are a call to arms. We must pick up our pens and bear witness, stand in solidarity and be the voice of the silenced.
PEN International secretary Kaitlin Kaldmaa
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Former PEN International President John Ralston Saul and Executive Director Carles Torner outside Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris, France. 14 January 2015.
MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR When I think of memorable moments of PEN in 2015/2916 I always think of the smiling face of Djibril Ly. As the founder of PEN Mauritania, he created a joyful centre in which poets, essayists, journalists and writers of Mauritania, representing diverse literatures come together with rappers, singers, performers over a mutual love of the written word. The last time I saw Djibril was at the PEN International Congress in Quebec, where he had come to present the new PEN Mauritania Centre. He was excited about the possibilities of the new Centre and keen to meet as many PEN members as possible. Djibril became very ill that week and tragically died a few days later. A human rights defender to the very end, he had previously spent five years in a forced labour camp for his defence of multilingualism. His last act in the fight for free expression and equality had been to come to PEN’s Congress and tell PEN members from around the world about the richness of Mauritanian literatures
and we in turn will never forget him or his tireless belief in the work of PEN. This is at the heart of PEN’s work; our members from around the world from Mauritanian to Canada, from Afghanistan to Sweden, from Uganda to Honduras, are united in our defence of freedom of expression, celebration of the written word and pursuit of equality and justice for all, and for all languages. Our work in the last two years has taken us around the world. In 2015, PEN published Imposing Silence: The Use of India’s Laws to Supress Free Speech, in partnership with PEN Canada and the Faculty of Law of the University of Toronto, outlining laws that curtail free speech in India. This was followed by the publication of Fearful Silence - The Chill on India’s Public Sphere, with a focus on self-censorship. These bodies of research form the basis of our advocacy work on India.
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While monitoring fee expression issues in Turkey we published Surveillance, Secrecy and Self-Censorship: New Digital Freedom Challenges in Turkey, in defence of imprisoned writers in the country. PEN International’s Peace Committee held a major gathering in Diyarbakir in April 2016 just weeks after the massacres took place in Kurdish cities. Turkish and Kurdish writers came together in peace and solidarity to stand against violence and oppression. By the time PEN’s Congress in Oursense was held, Turkey had began its brutal crackdown on freedom of expression and was now the biggest jailer of journalists in the world, with 130 journalists behind bars. Can Dündar, editor of the prestigious newspaper Cumhuriyet and a keynote speaker, told us:
‘When I was jailed, I was grateful that I never fulfilled my childhood dreams to become a doctor. Had I become a doctor, I could have been devastated alone in a cell. Instead, a PEN and some paper was enough to break through the solitary confinement. Through that pen and paper, I managed to create new dreams for myself, hold on to life, echo my voice to the world, take myself beyond those thick walls. There, I praised the
PEN’s power yet again. With a drive for active solidarity, you can prove PEN’s global might once more. May the ink of your PEN never dry.’ With the election of Jennifer Clement, in 2015 we said goodbye to John Ralston Saul, president of PEN International from 2009 to 2015. A year later, at the Ourense Congress, Takeaki Hori stepped down as the International Secretary and Estonian writer Kätlin Kaldmaa was elected to fill the position. Under John and Hori-san, PEN International was widely transformed having increased our presence in the international arena, we have developed new strengths in Honduras, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, India, Bangladesh, to name but a few countries. John Ralston Saul founded, together with Penguin, Random House and Hachette, the Publishers Circle, which now has 20 members and is still growing. At the Quebec congress we launched the Writers Circle, and at the Ourense congress the Readers Circle of PEN International, which together strengthen PEN’s work and impact everyday. Two years ago, on 11 January 2015, the killing at Charlie Hebdo shocked PEN members around the world. I accompanied John Ralston Saul to pay my respects to the victims in Paris and, since then, PEN has been on the frontline of the defence of freedom of expression in the face of extremism and xenophobia – and while this kind of oppression continue, so will PEN.
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2015/2016 HIGHLIGHTS • Monitored freedom of expression violations in over 1000 cases of writers in prison or at risk; • Assessed over 150 cases of writers at risk on behalf of the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN); • Ran global on-going campaigns for individual writers at risk, including Ashraf Fayadh, Ilham Tohti, Khadija Ismayilova, Can Dündar, Cesario Padilla and Raif Badawi; • Campaigned on key dates such as Day of the Imprisoned Writer, International Women’s Day, International Poetry Day and International Translation Day; • Pressed the Honduran state to implement the landmark decision by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to suspend the court-imposed work ban that prevented Globo TV journalist and PEN Honduras member Julio Ernesto Alvarado from carrying out his work; • Published four major reports on freedom of expression violations including Culture’s Oxygen which examines the condition for minority language creative writing industries in Kenya, Haiti, Serbia and Nigeria with support from UNESCO; • Coordinated widely publicised open letters signed by hundreds of writers including Nobel Laureates and PEN members: to the prime minister of Bangladesh, Hasina Wajed, calling for justice for murdered bloggers; to President Erdogan, expressing extreme concern about the increasing crackdown on freedom of expression in Turkey; and to China’s president Xi Jinping calling for the release of imprisoned writers; • Launched the PEN International Writers Circle, engaging more than 20 high profile writers from across the globe in PEN’s on-going free expression work; • Launched a multi-media and interactive platform, PEN/Outwrite, to explore LGBTQIA freedom of expression issues across the globe; • Adopted PEN’s Copyright Manifesto and Ethical Fundraising policy; • Made eight submissions to the Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review on Brazil, India, South Africa, Myanmar, Lrbanon, Tajikistan, Hungary and Turkey; • Commissioned research on the impact of criminal defamation legislation on writers in Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia and of decriminalisation in Ghana; • Undertook an independent review of gender within PEN; • Supported 23 projects through PEN’s Civil Society Programme promoting expression and dialogue and benefitting 19,915 people.
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Chinese-born British writer, Jung Chang delivers the keynote speech at 2016 Oxfam Novib/PEN Awards for Freedom of Expression at The Hague, January 2016.
CREATING SPACE LITERARY HIGHLIGHTS Oxfam Novib/PEN International Awards for Freedom of Expression PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee, the PEN Emergency Fund, and Oxfam Novib give the annual Oxfam Novib/PEN International Award for Free Expression to recognise a writer’s significant contribution to freedom of expression around the world and as a distinction to writers and journalists committed to free speech despite danger to their lives. At the 2016 Award ceremony, PEN International’s president, Jennifer Clement, said ‘On this night we celebrate the lives and work of the Egyptian poet, Omar Hazek, who spent over 18 months in prison for a peaceful protest demanding
The Oxfam Novib/PEN International Award for Freedom for Expression ceremony, at The Hague, January 2015.
justice for a man killed by security forces, an Eritrean poet, journalist and editorin-chief, Amanuel Asrat, whose fate has been unclear since his arrest 14 years ago, and for Turkish journalist Can Dündar, a member of PEN Turkey, who is in pre-trial detention in connection with his journalism. We also remember Ashraf Fayadh, the Palestinian poet, who has been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia.’
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Karl Ove Knausgard delivers his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of Writers Unlimited festival at The Hague, January 2015.
Delivering the evening’s keynote speech, the Chinese-born British writer, Jung Chang, described her own experience of hardship, honouring the courage of the winners of the award; ‘When I think on my misfortunes, I feel lucky compared to the three Oxfam Novib/PEN Awardees we celebrate tonight, two of whom are imprisoned, and one of whom was barred from travelling here. 2015’s award recipients were Libyan writer and journalist Razan al-Maghrabi, Iranian journalist and women’s rights activist Jila Bani-Yaghoub, her husband and fellow journalist Bahman Ahmadi-Amouee and Sudanese poet, writer and journalist Abdelmoneim Rahama. Karl Ove Knausgard and PEN’s President and Canadian writer, John Ralston Saul, delivered keynote speeches:
‘Everyone who writes, be it novels, newspaper articles, Facebook posts, diaries or letters, will sooner or later run up against the limit of what cannot, shall not, should not or must not be written. This limit is like an invisible wall, and to force one´s way across it is painful, it is felt in the body as anxiety, an inner clenching, a feeling of dread: If I cross this boundary, it will have consequences, something will happen to me or to someone else because of it. […] If one wishes to speak about freedom of expression, and to really understand what kind of a right it is and how important it is, it is this boundary that one has to speak about, it is this invisible wall that must be localized and defined. Where is it? Why is it there? What does it seek to protect?’ Karl Ove Knausgaard
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PEN INTERNATIONAL’S ANNUAL CONGRESS
As part of the Congress, a commemoration for the murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya was organised to mark 10 years since her killing.
PEN’s Annual Congress offers an opportunity for the entire PEN community to gather and reflect on its work. The 2016 Congress focused on the themes of Building Literary Bridges and was hosted by Galician PEN in the city of Ourense; 185 writers and intellectuals, from over 60 countries around the world attended. In October 2015, some 250 delegates, including PEN members from over 80 Centres across the globe met in Québec City for the 81st PEN International Congress. Hosted by PEN Quebec, the theme of the Congress was Translation Creation Freedom, which provided the stage for PEN’s membership to focus on issues of translation of world
literature, and the art and profession of the translator. Participating writers included Margaret Atwood, Yann Martel, Russell Banks, Joseph Boyden, Dany Laferrière, Joséphine Bacon, Luisa Valenzuela, Chris Hedges, Jean-François Lépine, Julio César Rivas, Gioconda Belli, Louis-Karl Picard-Sioui, Robert Lepage, Andrew Solomon and Jung Chang among many others. PEN joined with the Québec literary festival En Toutes Lettres, to offer public readings and debates to foster public awareness about PEN’s issues.
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DEFENDING FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2016 marks another bleak year for writers around the world. PEN International has compiled and verified data from all over the world and identified 224 individuals who have suffered repression, including 142 writers, 32 poets, and 28 singer-songwriters. If we add the number of journalists who have faced pressure, the number crosses the thousand-mark. Clearly, truth-telling is a dangerous business. Writers have been persecuted in a range of ways. In some cases, they are held in solitary confinement, in the hope that they will be forgotten. Some have been murdered, some tortured, some denied medical treatment, some sued on ridiculous charges, and some have been harassed in other ingenious ways. Religious defamation and blasphemy laws are invoked against writers, and criminal libel has been used in an attempt to stifle dissent. Writers are also murdered in conflict areas; worse, those murders have been carried out with impunity. Anti-terror laws have been misused to target writers who question the state. Digital media, which once promised freedoms in the virtual world that were denied in the real world, has belied some of that promise; the technology enables surveillance, and the nasty laws of the real world have intruded the virtual sphere, making writers cautious about what they say online, and how that might get interpreted in another society and what laws might be used to curb freedoms. With the advent of social media, anonymous individuals have mounted fierce attacks on some writers,
hoping to bully them into silence, if not submission. Women writers are particularly exposed to such tactics, but nevertheless, they persist.
What those who seek to silence writers do not realise is that these writers are rarely alone. When the Cameroonian poet Enoh Meyomesse was in jail, the French writer Alain Mabanckou wrote to him in a letter: “Well, you are not alone in this captivity, because when writers are thrown in prison, they are followed in their cells by an army of readers and the loud footsteps of their outraged colleagues.” PEN’s members have been doing just that for the writers whose freedom they campaign for – by picketing in front of Turkish and Saudi embassies, by writing postcards, by signing petitions, by holding candle-light vigils, by visiting trials, by witnessing, and by demonstrating their disapproval, their anger, and their criticism of the persecution. Forty-three writers were freed last year, thanks to the persistent campaigning by PEN and other allies. That still means that many remain in jail and thousands face risks, but those voices must not be silenced, and so long as there is a writer at risk or a writer is in prison or faces danger, we, their fellow writers, will bear witness, stand in solidarity, and unceasingly demonstrate our support to our brothers and sisters. Salil Tripathi, 2016 PEN International Case List
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SPEAKING OUT FOR THE SILENCED For close to 100 years, PEN’s mission has been to provide support to persecuted writers through targeted actions, international advocacy and support those at immediate risk.
Poets and activists Fatemeh Ekhtesari and Mehdi Mousavi fled Iran for Turkey in late 2015 where they were facing 99 lashes each and a joint 20-year prison sentence. They are now in Lillehammer City of Refuge with the ICORN residency programme.
PEN’s charter states that all members should do their utmost to promote good understanding and mutual respect between nations; to dispel race, class and national hatreds, and to champion the ideal of one humanity, living in peace in one world. Faced with the global rise in xenophobia and hate crimes, these ideals and PEN’s mission is more important than ever before.
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The International City of Refuge Network (ICORN) has long been one of PEN International’s most important partners in this work. ICORN is an independent organisation of cities and regions offering shelter to writers and artists at risk, advancing freedom of expression, defending democratic values and promoting international solidarity. The Protection team at PEN International’s Secretariat in London collaborate closely with ICORN on their work with writers applying to join the programme, Centres help to host their local guest writer and support their integration into the local literary community. ICORN member cities offer long-term, but temporary, shelter to those at risk as a direct consequence of their creative activities. Their aim is to host as many persecuted writers and artists as possible in ICORN cities and together with sister networks and organisations, to form a dynamic and sustainable global network for freedom of expression. WRITERS AT RISK In 2016, PEN International assessed 89 cases of writers at risk for ICORN, the overwhelming majority of which came from the Middle East and North Africa region where writers continue to be particularly at risk for reporting on conflict and political turmoil. Writers in the region also continue to be persecuted for allegedly offending public morals and for blasphemy. Furthermore, the grave situation in Turkey led to a steep rise in requests for relocation and financial assistance from writers in the wake of the failed coup attempt in July 2016 and the subsequent state of emergency.
In addition to applications to ICORN, PEN International works in partnership with the PEN Emergency Fund, which provides one-off grants for a range of emergency assistance measures which include safe passage, medical assistance, and general support towards living expenses. In 2016, 28 writers (9 women and 19 men) benefitted from grants of up to 1250 Euros for emergency assistance. As part of the process of researching, verifying and relocating urgent cases, PEN International is developing in-house expertise regarding safe communication with writers at risk. This has involved training on digital security and learning from other best practice safety procedures. The Writers at Risk Protection Manager attended a meeting of the Journalists in Distress (JID) network its purpose was to share experience and best practices, and improve the security and confidentiality of the Network, particularly regarding digital communications.
I just wanted to inform you that I had received the transaction funds and I want to express my deep gratitude and appreciation for this support. I cannot find the suitable words to tell my feelings. I hope one day I can do something to help to make the world a better place so I can return this kindness of yours. - Middle East region) recipient of PEN Emergency Fund grant
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Protesters gather on the streets of Dhaka after death of US blogger Avijit Roy, after he was attacked as he walked back from a book fair with his wife on 26 February 2015. Getty Images
IN FOCUS: BANGLADESH In the last two years, the climate for freedom of expression in Bangladesh continued to deteriorate and PEN responded by stepping up its work in the country. Between January and June 2016, Bangladesh accounted for 8 per cent of the cases recorded in the Asia and the Pacific section of PEN’s Case List; including the cases of three murdered free-thinkers, law student Nazimuddin Samad, university professor Rezaul Karim Siddique, US blogger Avijit Roy and editor of Bangladesh’s only LGBT magazine Roopbaan and leading gay rights activist Xulhaz Mannan. Still more have been attacked.
BANGLADESH – THE CONTEXT Since the blogger-led protests demanding capital punishment for war crimes committed during Bangladesh’s liberation war and calling for a ban on religious politics broke out in 2013, radical Islamist groups have claimed the killings of seven bloggers, free thinkers and a publisher since February 2015. The attacks have widened to include civil society actors, academics and religious figures with diverse views. Religious minority figures, including a Christian pastor, a Buddhist monk and a Sufi Muslim leader have been attacked or killed since October 2015. The siege of an upmarket restaurant in the diplomatic zone of Dhaka, the country’s
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capital, by suspected Islamic militants was a major escalation of the violence. The attack left 28 people dead. Following the murders of Xulhaz Mannan – editor of Bangladesh’s first and only LGBT magazine – and his friend, the Bangladeshi authorities launched a crackdown on extremists, arresting over 11,000 individuals between 10 and 16 June 2016 in connection with the killings. Such sweeping arrests do little to allay concerns regarding the standard of the investigations themselves. PEN International visited Bangladesh in late 2016 to attend the Dhaka Literary Festival and meet with its Centre. During the visit PEN spoke to writers, artists, NGOs and diplomatic missions about concerns for freedom of expression and growing concerns about the willingness or capacity of the authorities in Bangladesh to ensure the protection of those who are threatened and at risk.
Vigil held in remembrance of LGBT activist Xulhaz Mannan and his friend Tonoy in Dhaka, 25 April 2016. Getty Images
Narges Mohammadi at the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Tehran, 25 June 2007. Getty Images
IN FOCUS: IRAN In a letter to PEN International, imprisoned Iranian journalist, human rights defender, and Honorary Member of Danish, Belgian and Swedish PEN, Narges Mohammadi explained the mental and physical suffering that such practices inflict on inmates, often amounting to torture:
‘Solitary confinement is nothing but a closed and dark room. A dimly confined space, deprived of all sounds and all light that can give the inmates a sense of humanity. […] As a humble member of this prestigious organization, I urge all of you, as writers and defenders of the principles of free thought and freedom of speech and expression, to combat the use of solitary confinement as torture, with your pen, speech and all other means. Maybe one day we will be able to close the doors behind us to solitary confinement and no one will be sentenced to prison for criticizing and demanding reforms. I hope that day will come soon.’ Narges Mohammadi
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Mahvash Sabet is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in Iran’s notorious Evin prison. She is one of a group of seven Baha’i leaders known as the “Yaran-iIran” – “Friends of Iran” – who have been detained since 2008 for their faith and activities related to running the affairs of the Bahá’í community in Iran.
Sabet was arrested on 5 March 2008 while on a trip to Mashhad and detained without charge until January 2010, during which time she was held incommunicado for weeks and was not allowed access to legal counsel. Charged with espionage, propaganda against the Islamic republic, the establishment of an illegal administration, cooperation with Israel, sending secret documents outside the country, acting against the security of the country, and corruption on earth, the group’s trial began on 12 January 2010. On 14 June 2010, each of the defendants was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment, after six brief court sessions characterised by their lack of due legal process. Their sentences were later reduced to 10 years each when an appeals court revoked three of the charges; however, in March 2011, the prisoners were informed of the reinstatement of their original sentences.
Sabet, now aged 64, began her professional career as a teacher and worked as a principle at several schools. Following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Sabet was fired from her job and blocked from working in public education, like thousands of other Iranian Bahá’í educators.
Mahvash Sabet began writing poetry in prison, and a collection of her prison poems was published in English translation on 1 April 2013. Sabet became a PEN Main Case in 2013. Over the past three years, PEN and its members have worked tirelessly on her behalf.
In direct response to Mohammadi’s appeal for action on the issue, PEN International raised concerns regarding the use of solitary confinement in Iran in its resolution, passed at PEN’s 82nd International Congress in October 2016. The resolution, which makes specific calls on the Iranian authorities, sets PEN’s policy position on Iran and will be used as an advocacy tool by the secretariat and participating Centres.
THE CASE OF MAHVASH SABET
Mahvash Sabet
Mexican journalist Noe Zavaleta poses for the camera during an interview with AFP in Xalapa, Veracruz state, Mexico. Getty Images.
IN FOCUS: MEXICO Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world in which to be a journalist. Nine print and internet journalists were killed between January and December 2016, nearly twice the number of the previous year with at least 80 writers and print journalists killed in the country since 2004. Another 11 have disappeared. Around 90 per cent of these cases remain unresolved leading to a deadly cycle of violence and impunity.
Three of the nine print journalists killed in 2016 were from Veracruz, the deadliest of all states. At least 14 writers and print journalists have been killed in Veracruz since 2004, 11 of them since 2010 when Javier Duarte became state governor.
THE CASE OF NOÉ ZAVALETA Writer and Veracruz state correspondent for the national newsweekly magazine Proceso, Noé Zavaleta became subject to intimidation, threats and a smear campaign in early August 2016 in relation to his book on the outgoing governor of Veracruz, Javier Duarte.
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Published on 19 June, El infierno de Javier Duarte: Crónicas de un gobierno fatídico (Javier Duarte’s hell: Chronicles of a fateful government) is a damning account of Duarte’s administration. In the book Zavaleta argues that, since the governor came into office in 2010, Veracruz has become synonymous with a narco-state where nepotism, corruption, violence and impunity reign. According to Proceso, Zavaleta was threatened and insulted on social media by the businessman and owner of the regional newspaper El Buen Tono for mentioning his lucrative advertising contracts with the state government in the book. Zavaleta also reported receiving anonymous threatening messages from email accounts and websites associated with the state government. Zavaleta was particularly concerned by messages which attempted to link him to the organised crime group Los Zetas. On 8 August 2016 Zavaleta received a tweet that made him fear for his life. The tweet read: ‘you’re only saying you’re being threatened to get publicity, you f****** failed writer. Now I know where you live’. Zavaleta reported the threats to the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists
Relatives and friends of murdered Mexican photographer Ruben Espinosa mourn him upon arrival at the Dolores cemetery in Mexico City, on 3 August 2015.
and reportedly also lodged a formal complaint against those threatening him with the State General Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Prosecutor for Electoral Crimes and for Crimes against Journalists (FGE), and is considering bringing a similar complaint before the federal Attorney General’s office (PGR). Regina Martínez, also a correspondent for Proceso based in Veracruz, was murdered at her home on 28 April 2012. Rubén Espinosa, photojournalist for the magazine, was killed in Mexico City on 31 July 2015 after relocating from Veracruz state due to death threats. Speaking to PEN Mexico President Magali Tercero, Zavaleta said: “I wanted to thank the people of PEN International, since several of its offices have been campaigning on social networks … to stop the harassment against me, which affects my work. … Last week I returned to Veracruz, where I’m reporting and, when I can, continuing to promote my book. Things have calmed down since PEN issued statements in English, French, Spanish, German and other languages… I believe that today more than ever it is indispensable not to remain silent in the face of abuses, threats, intimidation from the government or criminal organisations.”
People gather to protest against July 15 failed military coup attempt, in Rize, Turkey on 30 July 2016. Getty Images
IN FOCUS: TURKEY PEN has been actively engaged on the promotion of freedom of expression and literature and the protection of journalists at risk in Turkey for decades; documenting freedom of expression violations and campaigning on behalf of writers in Turkey. From the 1985 visit of Harold Pinter and Arthur Miller on behalf of PEN to campaign against the torture of writers and others in prison; to continued calls for investigations into the 2007 murder of Turkish-Armenian editor and PEN member Hrant Dink; to campaigning against the prosecution of writers Orhan Pamuk in 2005 and Elif Shafak in 2006. In 2012 a PEN delegation went to Turkey to call for reform of laws stifling Turkey’s writers, publishers, translators, and journalists; in 2015 we released the report - Surveillance Secrecy and Self Censorship: New Digital Freedom Challenges in Turkey - documenting Turkey’s crackdown on freedom of expression online since the Gezi park protests and in 2016 we supported the joint meeting of PEN Turkey and Kurdish PEN for Peace. PEN’s work continues in Turkey today.
After the failed coup on 15 July 2016, a three-month state of emergency was declared by Turkish authorities, followed by a crackdown on freedom of expression and an increase in human rights violations. PEN International has documented Turkey’s post-coup purge of tens of thousands of people detained, suspended or fired; of publishing houses and newspapers shut down. PEN International called for the protection of freedom of expression during the state of emergency in the immediate aftermath of these events. New stories of arrests, suspensions and harassment against dissenting and independent voices, continued to emerge from Turkey in the weeks after the failed coup. In response - PEN released an action - featured in the media and signed by hundreds of PEN members and supporters - calling on President Erdoğan to safeguard freedom of expression and human rights and to respect his obligations under international law during this period of emergency. PEN’s Publishers Circle joined an open letter in early August drawing attention to the situation of publishers in the country.
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Editor-in-chief of Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet daily Can Dundar (R) and the chief of the newspaper’s bureau in Ankara Erdem Gul (C) take part in a rally by supporters of four jailed Turkish academics in front of the Istanbul courthouse, on 22 April 2016 in Istanbul. Getty Images
THE CASE OF CUMHURIYET The leading opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet’s report on a shipment of arms intercepted at the Syrian border in January 2014 led to a furore when it was published in May 2015, with President Erdoğan warning that the Editor in Chief and PEN member, Can Dündar would ‘pay a heavy price’. Dündar, together with his Ankara bureau chief, Erdem Gül, spent three months in pre-trial detention before being freed in February under a constitutional court ruling. Dündar had also previously been the subject of PEN campaigns as he was facing trial in several defamation cases brought against him by President Erdoğan.
PEN International and many of its Centres campaigned tirelessly for the two journalists while in prison. Can Dündar was one of three recipients of the PEN/Oxfam Novib prize in 2016; as he was in prison at the time of the award ceremony in January, his wife Dilek Dündar accepted the award on his behalf, reading out his acceptance speech, written from prison. Dundar is now living in exile in Germany and continues to work with PEN International.
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KEEPING UP THE PRESSURE PEN’S GLOBAL ADVOCACY PEN International uses its expert research on countries, thematic issues and individual cases to address the United Nations, to inform UN officials and member states, to influence policy and to call for urgent action when and where needed. The writers that we work with are at the heart of our advocacy work. We bring writers who have directly faced threats, harassment, violence and silencing to engage members and participate in debates, branches and mechanisms of the UN and to advocate for the protection of free expression.
Angolan journalist and human rights activist Rafael Marques de Morais during at an interview on 14 August 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Getty Images
IN FOCUS – CRIMINAL DEFAMATION The issue of criminal defamation has been a key thematic focus of PEN’s work over the last two years as PEN’s African Centres have identified the use of such laws as one of the main barriers to freedom of expression in the African continent. In response to this, PEN has been working with its Centres in Africa on a project to campaign for repeal of criminal defamation and insult laws across the continent. Many countries in Africa retain these colonial-era laws, including Angola, where criminal defamation laws are often used to silence critics, such as prominent journalist and human rights defender Rafael Marques de Morais. Marques de Morais has been judicially harassed over two decades, and was charged with criminal defamation in relation to a 2011 book.
In May 2015, he received a six-month suspended prison sentence with a probationary period of two years. He was convicted of defaming Angolan generals in his book Blood Diamonds: Corruption and Torture in Angola, released in November 2011, which detailed killings and torture perpetrated by private security guards working for mining companies in Angola’s diamond fields. It also levelled responsibility at several generals who owned the mines, for failing to stop the abuse. PEN campaigned heavily for the charges against Morais to be dropped since they were originally brought in 2011. Marques continues harassment.
to
face
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Central Aisia PEN
AN INTRODUCTION TO PEN INTERNATIONAL’S CIVIL SOCIETY PROGRAMME For over 10 years, the PEN International Civil Society Programme, supported by Sida and Clifford Chance, has been working to promote literature in education, increase youth engagement and empower through literature in countries around the world.
The Civil Society Programme currently consists of 26 PEN Centre-led projects. Each project is focused on working within communities, many marginalised in terms of literature and language, to empower individuals and to promote literature as a tool for cross-cultural understanding. A large number of Centres also carry out advocacy around freedom of expression issues. Together, they all contribute to the collective goal of the Civil Society Programme: that freedom of expression is understood and asserted and that civil society expresses itself creatively and critically, enhancing freedom of expression policy and practice.
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PEN’s workshops, mentoring, trainings, and school clubs cater for more than 59,225 young people worldwide and are nurturing a new generation of critical and creative minds. These young and diverse voices – now confident and skilled thinkers and writers – are being given a platform, and through these young voices civil society will express itself creatively and critically, feeding into and enhancing freedom of expression policy and practice. To work towards this goal, all Civil Society Centres are affecting change in the following areas: • They are creating diverse and fertile spaces for literature, language, ideas, opinions, debate and dialogue to flourish, and creating opportunities for diverse, dissenting and unknown writers to be heard; the Access to Education: Civil Society Programme is influencing public and political spheres;
• Centres are able to identify and articulate areas where law, policy and/or practice need to change and are developing targeted advocacy strategies to affect these changes. Centres will participate in the public debate and provide opportunities and platforms for writers and other stakeholders to influence policy makers; • They are building a diverse and engaged membership representative of their context. They are increasing their skills in project planning and management and their ability to run sustainable projects. They are becoming part of strong coalitions of civil society actors and are widely seen as a strong voice on freedom of expression issues.
PEN Eritrea In Exile
PEN Argentina
PEN Ghana
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The Civil Society PEN Centre Community: PEN Afrikaans, PEN Argentina, PEN Bosnia, Central Asia PEN, PEN Eritrea-in-exile, PEN Ghana, PEN Guinea, PEN Honduras, Kurdish PEN, PEN Lebanon, PEN Malawi, PEN Mali, PEN Mexico, PEN Myanmar, PEN Nicaragua, PEN Philippines, PEN Sierra Leone, PEN South Africa, PEN Togo, PEN Uganda, Wales PEN Cymru, PEN Zambia and PEN Zimbabwe
PEN Philippines
PEN Nicaragua
PEN Sierra Leone
35 | PEN INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL REPORT 2015-2016
WITH THANKS PEN International’s commitment to the promotion of literature and fight for freedom of expression would not be possible without the valued support of the following organisations and individuals:
DAVID LAGERCRANTZ
ALBERT BONNIERS FORLAG
FINNISH BOOK PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
ALEXANDER MC CALL SMITH
EDICIONES SALAMANDRA ELIF SHAFAK ERIC LAX EUROPEAN CULTURAL FOUNDATION EVAN CORNISH FOUNDATION
ALINE DAVIDOFF
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
ARTHUR GOLDEN
FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
BANYAN TREE FOUNDATION
GEERT MAK
BURHAN SONMEZ
GETTY IMAGES
CAPPELEN DAMM
GIANGIACOMO FELTRINELLI EDITORE
C.H. BECK CLIFFORD CHANCE COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION ORGANISATION INTERNATIONALE DE LA FRANCOPHONIE (OIF)
GRANTA PUBLICATIONS HACHETTE LIVRE HAKAN GUNDAY HANAN AL SHAYKH
PEN INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL REPORT 2015-2016 | 36
HARPERCOLLINS INTERNATIONAL
PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE GRUPO EDITORIAL
HOLTZBRINCK PUBLISHING GROUP
PRINCE CLAUS FOUNDATION
IAN RANKIN INTERNATIONAL CITIES OF REFUGE NETWORK (ICORN)
PROFESSOR BERNHARD SCHLINK RANDOM HOUSE ROBERT COTTRELL
ISABEL ALLENDE
SALMAN RUSHDIE
JIRŌ ASADA
SIMON & SCHUSTER
JOANNE LEEDOM - ACKERMAN
SOFI OKSANEN
JOHN RALSTON SAUL
SURKHAM VERLAG
JUDITH RODRIGUEZ
SWEDISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (SIDA)
KARL OVE KNAUSGAARD LUIZ SCHWARCZ MARGARET ATWOOD
UITGEVERIJ DE GEUS UNESCO
NATUR & KULTUR
UNITED NATIONS DEMOCRACY FUND (UNDEF)
NINA GEORGE
VIDA OGNJENOVIĆ
NORSTEDTS FÖRLAGSGRUPP AB
WORLD EDITIONS
NORWEGIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE
YANN MARTEL YAPI KREDI YOSEF WOSK
37 | PEN INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL REPORT 2015-2016
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2016 INCOME Unrestricted funds £
Designated funds £
Restricted funds £
Total funds 2016 £
Total funds 2015 £
Donations and legacies
182,880
-
342
183,222
323,873
Charitable activities
179,867
-
1,038,225
1,218,092
983,451
Total income
362,747
-
1,038,567
1,401,314
1,307,324
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EXPENDITURE Unrestricted funds £
Designated funds £
Restricted funds £
Total funds 2016 £
Total funds 2015 £
Fundraising and publicity
5,823
-
-
5,823
4,569
Expenditure on charitable activities:
196,870
3,262
785,641
985,772
1,003,023
General advocacy and support
117,989
3,141
146,025
267,155
344,781
320,682 42,065
6,403 (6,403)
931,665 106,902
1,258,750 142,564
1,352,373 (45,049)
Gross transfers between funds
14,965
5,011
(19,976)
-
-
Other gains / (Losses)
52,662
Net (expenditure)/ Income for the year
109,692
(1,392)
86,926
195,226
(45,049)
Total funds brought forward
147,231
20,175
116,999
284,405
329,454
Total funds carried forward
256,923
18,783
203,925
479,631
284,405
Cost of raising funds:
Writers in prison Total expenditure
52,662
Reconciliation of funds:
39 | PEN INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL REPORT 2015-2016
BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2016 2016
£
£
2015
£
£
Fixed assets: 18,783
Tangible assets
20,175
Current assets: Debtors
140.695
189,519
Cash at bank and in hand
550,016
375,804
Total Current assets
690,711
565,323
(229,863)
(301,093)
Liabilities: Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year Net current assets or liabilities
460,848
264,230
Total assets less current liabilities
479.631
284,405
Total net assets or liabilities
479,631
284,405
Restricted income funds
203,925
116,999
Designated funds
18,783
20,175
Other charitable funds
256,923
147,231
Total unrestricted funds
275,706
167,406
Total funds
479,631
284,405
The funds of the Charity:
PRESIDENT JENNIFER CLEMENT SECRETARY KAITLIN KALDMAA TREASURER JARKKO TONTTI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CARLES TORNER BOARD TERESA CADETE ANDERS HEGER MARGIE ORFORD MOHAMED SHERIFF REGULA VENSKE ANTONIO DELLA ROCCA NON-VOTING CO-OPTED BOARD MEMBERS ELIZABETH HIESTER ERIC LAX STAFF ANN HARRISON, DIRECTOR OF FREEDOM TO WRITE PROGRAMME ANNE MUTHEE, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION DIRECTOR ROMANA CACCHIOLI, DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES JAMES TENNANT, LITERATURE & PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER SARAH CLARKE, INTERNATIONAL POLICY AND ADVOCACY MANAGER SAHAR HALAIMZAI, GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS & CAMPAIGNS MANAGER SARAH PERRY, GLOBAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER CATHY MCCANN, WRITERS AT RISK PROTECTION MANAGER PATRICIA DIAZ, WRITERS AT RISK PROTECTION OFFICER BASIM MARDAN, WRITERS AT RISK PROTECTION OFFICER JOSIE OREILLY, INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES OFFICER LIANNA MERNER, AFRICA PROGRAMME COORDINATOR EMMA WADSWORTH JONES, ASIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST PROGRAMME COORDINATOR JENA PATEL, CONGRESS, COMMITTEES & CENTRES COORDINATOR HOLLY STRAUSS, LEARNING AND ACCOUNTABILITY COORDINATOR AURELIA DONDO, EUROPE PROGRAMME COORDINATOR EGE DUNDAR, TURKEY CONSULTANT FELLOWS LAURA PETRECCA ELIZABETH HOSIER CLAUDIA MARINARO KATIE HOLLAND DANIEL HOWARD – SCHIFF ADELINE DUBOST
PROMOTING LITERATURE, DEFENDING FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION