Articles by PEN America
PEN America calls for immediate release of Burmese artist and activist Htein Lin
Burmese artist and former political prisoner Htein Lin, and Vicky Bowman, the former British ambassador to Myanmar, were arrested on arbitrary charges in Yangon.
Myanmar junta vows to execute cultural figures and activists
The execution of two activists, Ko Jimmy and Phyo Zayar Thaw, would be an irrevocable rejection of human rights and would mark a dramatic escalation in the military’s tactics of repression
Myanmar, China and Saudi Arabia were the world’s top jailers of writers and public intellectuals in 2021
In the face of authoritarian resurgence around the world, PEN America’s Freedom to Write Index documents cases of writers and public intellectuals who have been unjustly locked up for their exercise of free expression. At least 277 of them (in 36 countries) were in jail last year.
Cuba: PEN condemns six-year prison sentence for musician Abel Lescay for his participation in peaceful mass protests last July
“Abel Lescay is a brave and talented musician who should never have been in jail in the first place (…) His sentencing is a very worrisome development in the Cuban government’s relentless crackdown on artistic expression…”
Educational gag orders target speech about LGBTQ+ identities with new prohibitions and punishments
The effort to censor anti-LGBTQ identities is expanding rapidly.
Open letter to the school board of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District
PEN America urges the school board not to pass Resolution No. 21-12, “Resolution Opposing the Teaching of Critical Race Theory.”
Scope and speed of educational gag orders worsening across the country
In the month since the release of PEN America’s report on the topic, state lawmakers introduced 12 new bills, bringing the total to a staggering 66 educational gag orders for the year in 26 states, 12 of which have passed into law.
Educational gag orders: Legislative restrictions on the freedom to read, learn, and teach
Between January and September 2021, 24 legislatures across the United States introduced 54 separate bills intended to restrict teaching and training in K-12 schools, higher education, and state agencies and institutions. The majority of these bills target discussions of race, racism, gender, and American history.