World Poetry Day 2018
PEN International has been campaigning for disappeared Chinese poet, Liu Xia, since her arrest in 2010.
World Poetry Day, marked each year on 21 March, is an opportunity to celebrate poetry, the power and creativity of language and to promote reading, writing, publishing, and teaching poetry throughout the world. PEN International uses this day to highlight the great challenges poets face across the globe simply for their work.
Each year PEN focuses its campaigning on behalf of poets who have paid a high price for their poetry and ask Centres, PEN members and supporters to take action on their behalf. Our Centres around the world mark day with readings, events, press conference and focused campaigning on individuals cases
This World Poetry Day, PEN International is focusing our campaigning on the poets Aron Atabek imprisoned in Kzakhstan, Amanuel Asrat imprisoned in Eritrea, Dareen Tatour under house arrest in Israel and Liu Xia under house arrest in China.
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Aron Atabek is a prominent Kazakh poet, journalist and dissident. He has been in prison for over 10 years, including frequent periods in punitive confinement in extremely harsh conditions. This includes severe restrictions on family visits and telephone calls, and denial of access to natural light, communication with other prisoners and writing materials.
In 2007, Atabek was convicted of organising mass disorder in politically motivated proceedings related to a 2006 protest against the demolition of a shantytown, which resulted in the death of a police officer. He was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment. Atabek has always maintained his innocence and has rejected a government pardon premised on admitting his guilt.
In 2012, Atabek published The Heart of Eurasia, a critique of President Nazarbayev’s regime, after the manuscript was smuggled out of prison. Subsequently, he was sentenced to two years in solitary confinement. In October 2013, his family was told in an anonymous phone call that he would be transferred to another prison, more than 1,000 km away from his family. The authorities refused to confirm or deny this news and for several weeks his family remained in the dark about his whereabouts, until it was confirmed by a local human rights organisation.
In his rare communications with the outside world, Atabek has described the conditions of his solitary confinement as ‘a prison within a prison’ and ‘a complete vacuum’. The prolonged bouts of solitary confinement by themselves constitute cruel and inhuman punishment, prohibited under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, by which Kazakhstan is bound. In denying access to family visits and regular correspondence with them, Kazakhstan is also violating the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules).
Atabek has written several books of poetry and prose inspired by Tengriist spirituality and was the founder, in 1992, of the monthly newspaper Khak (‘The Truth’). Atabek was awarded the literary ‘Almas Kylysh’ prize in 2004 and the Freedom to Create: Imprisoned Artist prize in 2010. He studied linguistics and Mongol and Turkic culture at universities in Kazakhstan and Russia and prior to his imprisonment lectured widely on linguistics and local history and culture, as well as serving on the State Committee for Cinematography.
Some of Atabek’s poetry has been translated into English.
Take action
Call for the immediate and unconditional release of Aron Atabek and, in the meantime, for him to be moved to a prison within visiting distance of his family and to be allowed regular visits, telephone calls, correspondence, and access to writing materials.
Please write to President Nazarbayev, copying in the Kazakh diplomatic representative to your country, and your own Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For writers in the European Union, please also write to your Member of the European Parliament, asking them to raise the case in the European Parliament.
Write to:
President of Kazakhstan: President Nursultan Nazarbayev, President’s Office, 010000 Astana, Kazakhstan
Publicity & social media PEN members are encouraged to:
Publish articles and opinion pieces in your national or local press highlighting the case of Aron Atabek
Suggested tweet: #Kazakhstan - Free poet Aron Atabek immediately & unconditionally #WorldPoetryDay @pen_int (add link to action paper)
Suggested tweet: On #WorldPoetryDay 2018 call on # Kazakhstan to free poet Aron Atabek @pen_int (add link to action paper).
Please send appeals immediately.
Solidarity
Elect Aron Atabek as an honorary member of your Centre and by doing so provide long- term support and advocacy for her and her family. For details of the International PEN Honorary Membership scheme, read the PEN WiPC Guide to Defending Writers Under Attack (Part V, pp 15-20). Please let us know if you do so and we will ensure that your Centre is networked with others working on the case.
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Amanuel Asrat is an award-winning Eritrean poet, critic, songwriter, and editor-in-chief of the leading newspaper ዘመን (Zemen, meaning The Times), has been detained incommunicado for over 16 years. Asrat was arrested at his home on the morning of 23 September 2001 amid a crackdown on state and private media. Other independent journalists, opposition politicians and students were also arrested during the crackdown. It is believed that Asrat and the other journalists have neither been charged nor tried.
Asrat is thought to be among the few surviving journalists from the 2001 crackdown, alive but in deteriorating health. Unconfirmed reports allege that some of the journalists have died, having been subjected to torture or other ill treatment, including lack of access to medical care. The limited information available suggests that Asrat was detained in the maximum-security Eiraeiro prison until the beginning of 2016. According to unverified information leaked in February 2016, he was then allegedly transferred to an undisclosed location along with other inmates. The Eritrean authorities have not confirmed this.
Asrat, who received the 2016 Oxfam Novib/PEN Award for Freedom of Expression, is credited for the resurgence of Eritrean poetry in the early 2000s. Along with two friends, he created a literary club called ቍርሲ ቀዳም ኣብ ጠዓሞት (Saturday’s Supper) in 2001. This club kindled the emergence of similar clubs in all major Eritrean towns. His writings tackle subjects ranging from the daily life of the underprivileged to conflict and war. Unlike most popular Eritrean wartime poetry, his work provides a negative insight into conflict.
His award-winning poem ኣበሳ ኲናት (The Scourge of War) alludes to the border dispute with neighbouring Ethiopia as it describes the blood shed by two brothers. In 1999, the poem was awarded one of Eritrea’s most prestigious literary and artistic awards by the state-run National Holidays Coordinating Committee, which noted the uniqueness of Asrat’s poem for standing firmly against war. The newspaper ዘመን (Zemen/The Times) where he worked became the leading literary newspaper in Eritrea and was run by a circle of critics who helped shape the cultural landscape of the country.
PEN has long campaigned on behalf of Amanuel Asrat and most recently highlighted his case by featuring an ‘Empty Chair’ in PEN International’s 83 Congress in Lviv, Ukraine. For International Translation Day on 30 September 2015, PEN members from around the world translated ኣበሳ ኲናት (The Scourge of War) into over a dozen languages, all of which can be viewed here.
PEN International believes that Asrat’s ongoing detention is an attempt by the Eritrean government to stifle critical voices, including calls for establishing constitutional government. We call for his immediate release and the end to violations of freedom of expression in Eritrea.
Take Action:
Send appeals to the Eritrean government:
Protesting the detention of poet and journalist Amanuel Asrat on politically motivated grounds and without known charges or trial since 2001;
Expressing concern for Asrat’s health as detainees are believed to have suffered ill treatment, probably torture and lack of access to medical care;
Demanding that the Eritrean authorities immediately clarify the fate of all detained journalists and release immediately and unconditionally those still alive
Write to: President: His Excellency Isaias Afewerki, Office of the President, P.O.Box 257, Asmara, Eritrea, Fax:+ 2911 125123
Minister of Information Hon. Yemane Gebremeskel: P.O. Box 242, Asmara, Eritrea, +291 124 847, Twitter: @hawelti
Please copy appeals to the diplomatic representative for Eritrea in your country if possible. Details of some Eritrean embassies can be found here.
Social Media
Suggested tweets:
Free #Eritrea Poet Amanuel Asrat held without charge for 16 years for politically motivated reasons #FreeAsrat #WPD2018 @pen_int {insert link to PEN action paper}
On #WPD2018 take action for poets imprisoned for exercising their right to #FOE {insert link to PEN action papers}
Publicity
PEN members are encouraged to:
Publish articles and opinion pieces in your national or local press highlighting Amanuel Asrat’s case;
Organise public events, press conferences or demonstrations;
Share information about Amanuel Asrat and your campaigning for him via social media.
Solidarity
Consider adopting Amanuel Asrat as an Honorary Member of your Centre. Details of how to campaign for honorary members may be found in the Writers in Prison Committee Handbook, available here.
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Update - 3 May 2018
PEN International strongly condemns the decision of the Nazareth Magistrate's Court to convict Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour of ‘support for a terrorist organization’ and ‘incitement to violence’. The conviction is mainly related to a YouTube video in which she recites one of her poems entitled,‘Qawim ya sha’abi, qawimhum (Resist, my people, resist them).’
PEN International President Jennifer Clement, who met Dareen Tatour at her home in Nazareth last year, said:
“Dareen Tatour has been convicted for doing what writers do every day – we use our words to peacefully challenge injustice. I was incredibly honoured to meet Dareen at her home last year and PEN will continue to call for justice in this case.”
PEN believes that Dareen Tatour was targeted for her poetry and peaceful activism, and has been campaigning for her immediate release and for the charges against her to be dropped.
Further updates to follow.
PEN International condemns the ongoing house arrest and prosecution of Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour. A recent letter from the Israeli Office of the Deputy Attorney General to the PEN Centre in Melbourne Australia does not respond to the legitimate concerns we have raised about Dareen Tatour’s prosecution.
The letter states that Tatour has been charged with incitement to violence and solidarity with acts of violence, following publications of her work on Facebook and YouTube, and in particular her “song” entitled, ‘Qawim ya sha’abi, qawimhum (Resist, my people, resist them).’
Tatour is a poet and not a singer, and she was in fact reading a poem on the YouTube video in question. The poem is set to music against a backdrop of video footage of Palestinian resistance – as men throw stones at armed Israeli soldiers. In her poem, Tatour denounces violations committed by the Israeli authorities against Palestinians, and incites them to resist the Israeli occupation; but she does not call for violence. Peacefully exercising the right to free expression is not a crime.
PEN has carefully reviewed the charge sheet and the evidence against Tatour, and has concluded that she has been targeted for her poetry and peaceful activism. Consequently, it continues to call for her immediate release and for the charges against her to be dropped.
In October 2017, PEN International’s President, Jennifer Clement, and PEN’s Executive Director, Carles Torner, visited Tatour at her home in Reineh near Nazareth. This is Tatour’s message to the PEN membership:
‘As a detained poet, your support gave me a spark of hope that would never extinguish, and it confirmed that there is someone who works to protect the rights of the writer and the poet as a human being, and to ensure that the spark of creativity remains alight forever. Thank you PEN International. Thanks very much for visiting me, for your support, and standing by poets and writers who suffer and face imprisonment like myself solely for expressing their views through art.’
For more information on Tatour’s case, see our last action here.
Take action
Please send appeals to the Israeli authorities:
Urging them to release poet Dareen Tatour from house arrest immediately and unconditionally;
Calling for all charges against Dareen Tatour to be dropped as she is being held solely for her peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression.
Write to:
Minister of Justice: Ayelet Shaked, Ministry of Justice, 9 Salah al-Din Street, Jerusalem 91010, Israel, Fax: +972 2 628 5438, Email: sar@justice.gov.il
Attorney General: Avichai Mendelbilt, Ministry of Justice, 29 Salah al-Din Street, Jerusalem 91010, Israel, Fax: +972 2 530 3367, Email: lishkat-yoetz@justice.gov.il
Ministry of Justice The Office of the Deputy Attorney General (International Law): Alisa Gannel, Adv., P. O. B ox 929 9, Tel Aviv 6 1 092, Israel, Fax: +97 2-3 -68 99 80 1, Email: international@justice.gov.il
Please copy your appeals to the Embassy of Israel in your country. A list of embassies can be found here: http://www.allembassies.com/israeli_embassies.htm. Please also send us copies of your letters or information about other activities and of any responses received.
Publicity
PEN members are encouraged to:
Publish articles and opinion pieces in your national or local press highlighting Dareen Tatour’s case;
Organise public events, press conferences, poetry readings or demonstrations;
Join the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee in translating Tatour’s poetry, available in the original Arabic here and other languages here:
If you have not already done so, consider signing this petition for Tatour: https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/dareen/
Solidarity
Consider adopting Dareen Tatour as an Honorary Member of your Centre. Details of how to campaign for honorary members may be found in the Writers in Prison Committee Handbook, available here.
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Liu Xia, China, is a poet, artist, and founding member of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre. Xia has been held under unofficial house arrest in her Beijing apartment since her late husband, the poet Liu Xiaobo, was named the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2010.
For seven years, Liu Xia was held in her apartment without access to phones, internet, doctors of her choice, or visitors. Following the death of her husband in July 2017 and the expression of concern for her wellbeing, Xia appeared in a video in which she asked to be left alone to mourn – it is thought that she may have done this at the behest of the authorities.
The Independent PEN Centre (ICPC) report that the restrictions applied against Liu Xia have relaxed somewhat; she has access to a telephone and is allowed to leave her home, but is under constant surveillance. Colleagues at ICPC report that Liu Xia has been removed from Beijing for the duration of the National People’s Congress; it is expected that she will be returned to her Beijing home after this date.
There are reports that Liu Xia’s mental and physical health continue to suffer due to her detention.
PEN International believes that the ongoing, extra-judicial house arrest of Liu Xia is a form of punishment for the human rights work carried out by her husband, Liu Xiaobo, and is extremely concerned for her physical and psychological integrity.
You can view writings by Liu Xia here. Watch a video of her reading her poetry here.
Take Action
Write to the Chinese government:
Calling for the immediate and unconditional release from extra-judicial house arrest of the poet and artist Liu Xia, and calling for all restrictions on her freedom of movement and expression to be lifted;
Calling for Liu Xia to be granted access to all necessary medical care;
Urging the authorities to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which provides for freedom of legitimate expression, and freedom of movement and reminding them that as a signatory to the ICCPR China is obliged to ‘refrain from acts that would defeat or undermine the treaty’s objective and purpose.’
Write to:
His Excellency Xi Jinping: President of the People’s Republic of China, State Council, Beijing 100032, P.R. China, Fax: +86 10 6238 1025
PEN strongly recommends that you also send or, if possible, personally deliver the appeal to the Chinese embassy in your country asking them to forward it to the Chinese authorities and welcoming any comments – see below for guidance.
You may find it easier to write to the Chinese ambassador in your own country asking him or her to forward your appeal. Most embassies are obliged to forward such appeals to the relevant officials in the country. A letter or petition signed by an eminent member of your Centre may make it more likely for your appeal to be considered. Similarly if your appeal is published in your local press and copied to the Chinese ambassador, this too may have greater impact.
You can find the contact details of the Chinese embassy in your country here.
Publicity
PEN members are encouraged to:
Publish articles and opinion pieces in your national or local press highlighting the case of Liu Xia;
Suggested tweet: #China - Free Uygur poet Liu Xia immediately & unconditionally #WorldPoetryDay @pen_int (add link to action paper);
Suggested tweet: On #WorldPoetryDay 2018 call on #China to free poet Liu Xia @pen_int (add link to action paper).
Solidarity
Elect Liu Xia as an honorary member of your Centre and by doing so provide long- term support and advocacy for her and her family. For details of the International PEN Honorary Membership scheme, read the PEN WiPC Guide to Defending Writers Under Attack (Part V, pp 15-20). Please let us know if you do so and we will ensure that your Centre is networked with others working on the case.
Please let us know about your activities and send us a report about them by 21 April 2018 so that we can share them with other centres.