Misplaced Pages

#372627

19-770: The Montenegrin PEN Center ( Crnogorski PEN Centar ) is the national chapter of the International PEN in Montenegro . It was formed in 1990, as one-party Communist rule in what was then Yugoslavia was ending. The center has worked to promote the use of the Montenegrin literary standard of Serbo-Croatian . It published Vojislav Nikčević 's Crnogorski pravopis in 1997, the first orthography for this written variant. International PEN PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010)

38-574: A broad spectrum. A grove of trees beside Lake Burley Griffin forms the PEN International memorial in Canberra , Australian Capital Territory. The dedication reads: "The spirit dies in all of us who keep silent in the face of tyranny." The memorial was officially opened on 17 November 1997. A cast-iron sculpture entitled Witness , commissioned by English PEN to mark their 90th anniversary and created by Antony Gormley , stands outside

57-782: A powerful voice on behalf of writers harassed, imprisoned and sometimes killed for their views. The first PEN Club was founded at the Florence Restaurant in London on October 5, 1921, by Catherine Amy Dawson Scott , with John Galsworthy as its first president. Its first members included Joseph Conrad , Elizabeth Craig , George Bernard Shaw , and H. G. Wells . PEN originally stood for "Poets, Essayists, Novelists", but now stands for "Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, Novelists" and includes writers of any form of literature, such as journalists and historians. The club established these aims: The president of PEN International

76-505: Is Burhan Sönmez . Past presidents since Galsworthy have included E. M. Forster , Alberto Moravia , Heinrich Böll , Arthur Miller , Mario Vargas Llosa , Homero Aridjis , Jiří Gruša , John Ralston Saul and Jennifer Clement . PEN International has its headquarters in London and is composed of autonomous PEN Centres in more than 100 countries around the world, each of which is open to writers, journalists, translators, historians and others actively engaged in any branch of literature. It

95-1125: Is a key conclusion of the latest IFEX-TMG mission to Tunisia in April/May 2010. It draws from research and interviews during the IFEX-TMG's seventh mission to Tunisia, conducted between 25 April and 6 May 2010. The IFEX-TMG found that there had been a significant deterioration of human rights in Tunisia since the last IFEX-TMG mission in 2007. The report records a number of recurring cases of harassment, surveillance, and imprisonment of journalists and human rights activists some of whom have been detained in harsh conditions, physically harassed and dismissed from their jobs. Others have been denied their rights to communicate and move freely. The report culminates with 18 specific recommendations for change. A pot-pourri of administrative sanctions used to limit free expression and exert indirect pressure on journalists and human rights defenders are also addressed. These include denying licences to independent and opposition media,

114-685: Is a non-governmental organization in formal consultative relations with UNESCO and Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations . PEN summarises its Charter, based on resolutions passed at its International Congresses: PEN affirms that: PEN International Writers in Prison Committee works on behalf of persecuted writers worldwide. Established in 1960 in response to increasing attempts to silence voices of dissent by imprisoning writers,

133-406: Is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous International PEN centres in more than 100 countries. Other goals included: to emphasise the role of literature in the development of mutual understanding and world culture; to fight for freedom of expression ; and to act as

152-623: Is also a member of IFEX's Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG), a coalition of twenty-one free expression organisations that began lobbying the Tunisian government to improve its human rights record in 2005. Since the Arab Spring events that led to the collapse of the Tunisian government, TMG has worked to ensure constitutional guarantees of free expression and human rights within the country. On 15 January 2016, PEN International joined human rights organisations Freemuse  [ de ] and

171-530: The British Library in London. It depicts an empty chair, and is inspired by the symbol used for 30 years by English PEN to represent imprisoned writers around the world. It was unveiled on 13 December 2011. Tunisia Monitoring Group The IFEX-TMG monitors free expression violations in Tunisia and works to raise international awareness of censorship in the country. In the lead-up to, and during,

190-683: The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, along with seven other organisations, to protest against the 2013 imprisonment and 2015 sentencing of musicians Mehdi Rajabian and Yousef Emadi, and filmmaker Hossein Rajabian , and called on the head of the judiciary and other Iranian authorities to drop the charges against them. Ma Thida is the Chair of this committee. The various PEN affiliations offer many literary awards across

209-543: The November 2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), the IFEX-TMG called attention to Tunisia's failure to respect international human rights standards as the summit's host. In the years running up to and during the Arab Spring , and the immediate months after, the chairman spokesman and chief fundraiser of the IFEX-TMG was Rohan Jayasekera , then Associate Editor of Index on Censorship . He

SECTION 10

#1732773175373

228-644: The Tunisian government has sought to further stifle dissidents since the previous TMG report of May 2006." The IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group believes that Tunisia must abide by its international obligations as a signatory to UN human rights treaties, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights , as the host of the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis in November 2005. The following 18 recommendations are based on

247-514: The Writers in Prison Committee monitors the cases of as many as 900 writers annually who have been imprisoned , tortured , threatened, attacked, made to disappear, and killed for the peaceful practice of their profession. It publishes a bi-annual Case List documenting free expression violations against writers around the world. The committee also coordinates the PEN International membership's campaigns that aim towards an end to these attacks and to

266-517: The country, including: In September 2005, members of the IFEX-TMG returned to Tunisia to assess whether free expression conditions had improved since the first report. It found systematic censorship of newspapers and books; blocking of Internet sites; systematic surveillance of e-mails and telephones; denial of the right to legal accreditation of independent civil society associations; and threats against freedom of assembly . Free expression violations in Tunisia continue to run rampant, six months after

285-992: The government attracted controversy for muzzling civil society activists during the World Summit on the Information Society last November, according to a new report by the IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group, which undertook a mission in April 2006. Following a mission to Tunisia in February and March 2007, the IFEX-TMG launched its fourth report – Freedom of Expression in Tunisia: The Siege Holds – in Cairo, Washington, Paris and Geneva. The report, available in English, French and Arabic, states: "a lack of positive change has led us to conclude that

304-687: The harassment of critical journalists and human rights defenders and the confiscation of publications. Another chapter analyses the tactics the Tunisian authorities have employed in an effort to prevent the emergence of an independent judiciary, in spite of its national and international obligations. From 14 to 19 January 2005, six members of the IFEX-TMG conducted a fact-finding mission to Tunisia, where they met with writers, publishers, editors, journalists, human rights defenders and academics, as well as government officials and government-sponsored organisations. The resulting report, Tunisia: Freedom of Expression Under Siege , documented extensive censorship in

323-471: The political spectrum. The work of the IFEX-TMG in consistently raising freedom of expression issues both inside Tunisia and on the international stage during the country's darkest years was widely praised, while opinions on how the transition process is unfolding were freely given. A full report is being issued on 1 June 2011. "Tunisia needs a truly independent judiciary to reverse its worsening record on human rights and treatment of prisoners of opinion." This

342-486: The suppression of freedom of expression worldwide. PEN International Writers in Prison Committee is a founding member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), a global network of 90 non-governmental organisations that monitors censorship worldwide and defends journalists, writers, internet users and others who are persecuted for exercising their right to freedom of expression. It

361-536: Was succeeded in 2012 by Virginie Jouan of the World Association of Newspapers who remained in post until IFEX wound up the group in late 2012. A mission carried out in April 2011 post-revolution took place in an entirely different context. In stark contrast to previous missions, the delegation of seven IFEX-TMG member groups was able to meet and talk openly with civil society groups, human rights activists, journalists, bloggers and representatives from across

#372627