No surprises here really.
China jailed the highest number of writers in the world in 2024 as global clampdown on freedom of speech increased for the sixth year, according to a report compiled by PEN America.
At least 375 writers were in prison across 40 countries in 2024, an increase from 339 writers jailed across 33 countries recorded last year, according to the Freedom to Write Index.
China accounts for nearly one-third of the world's jailed writers, with 118 authors arrested for writing on democracy, criticising the Chinese Communist Party, and promoting ethnic minority language and culture, the report found.
Almost half of the jailed writers in 2024 were ethnic minorities such as Uyghur, Tibetan, or Mongolian, who were arrested on vague charges that allege “separatism".
The report found that one-third of the jailed writers in China were primarily online commentators, nine were women, and 33 were detained without charges or are in pre-trial detention.
Rights groups and foreign governments have criticised China for throttling dissent through the arbitrary arrest of Uyghurs, critics and pro-democracy activists and lawyers in Hong Kong under the national security laws. Prominent Uyghur scholar and author Rahile Dawut was sentenced to life in prison in 2023 on charges of "endangering state security”. Beijing routinely denies such allegations, calling them the “lie of the century”.
"Hong Kong is a society governed by the rule of law … press freedom cannot become an excuse for committing crimes,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson had said in August 2024. China in 2024 ranked 172 out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index.
Recently, China jailed Li Yanhe, a Chinese national and editor-in-chief of a Taiwanese publishing house, to three years in prison for "inciting separatism”.
"Authoritarian regimes are desperate to control the narrative of history and repress the truth about what they are doing. That is why writers are so important, and why we see these regimes attempting to silence them,” said Karin Deutsch Karlekar, PEN America’s director of writers at risk.
“Jailing one writer for their words is a miscarriage of justice, but the systematic suppression of writers around the world represents an erosion of free expression – which is often the precursor to the destruction of other fundamental human rights," she added.
The report found that Iran was the second-worst offender, jailing 43 writers, even if the number saw a slight drop from 49. Saudi Arabia ranked third for jailing 23 writers.
The number of imprisoned women writers also increased to 59, marking a 15 per cent jump from 2023, according to the index. Iran was the biggest jailer of women writers, with 13 women arrested for writing against suppression and mandatory hijab laws.
Vietnam ranked fourth for jailing 23 writers. Israel ranked fifth with 21 writers in prison amid its retaliatory war against Hamas in Gaza, which has killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Strip. The war was triggered by Hamas's attack on southern Israel, when the militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 hostages.
Russia, which is in its third year of war on Ukraine, jailed 18 writers. The report found that the majority of the writers were jailed for anti-war sentiments. A court in Russia this month convicted four journalists of extremism for working for an anti-corruption group founded by Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and sentenced them to five and a half years in prison each.
"War, conflict, and attacks against the free exchange of information and ideas go hand in hand with lies and propaganda,” Ms Karlekar said. “Writers represent a threat to disinformation and encourage people to think critically about what is going on around them."
www.independent.co.uk
China jailed the highest number of writers in the world in 2024 as global clampdown on freedom of speech increased for the sixth year, according to a report compiled by PEN America.
At least 375 writers were in prison across 40 countries in 2024, an increase from 339 writers jailed across 33 countries recorded last year, according to the Freedom to Write Index.
China accounts for nearly one-third of the world's jailed writers, with 118 authors arrested for writing on democracy, criticising the Chinese Communist Party, and promoting ethnic minority language and culture, the report found.
Almost half of the jailed writers in 2024 were ethnic minorities such as Uyghur, Tibetan, or Mongolian, who were arrested on vague charges that allege “separatism".
The report found that one-third of the jailed writers in China were primarily online commentators, nine were women, and 33 were detained without charges or are in pre-trial detention.
Rights groups and foreign governments have criticised China for throttling dissent through the arbitrary arrest of Uyghurs, critics and pro-democracy activists and lawyers in Hong Kong under the national security laws. Prominent Uyghur scholar and author Rahile Dawut was sentenced to life in prison in 2023 on charges of "endangering state security”. Beijing routinely denies such allegations, calling them the “lie of the century”.
"Hong Kong is a society governed by the rule of law … press freedom cannot become an excuse for committing crimes,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson had said in August 2024. China in 2024 ranked 172 out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index.
Recently, China jailed Li Yanhe, a Chinese national and editor-in-chief of a Taiwanese publishing house, to three years in prison for "inciting separatism”.
"Authoritarian regimes are desperate to control the narrative of history and repress the truth about what they are doing. That is why writers are so important, and why we see these regimes attempting to silence them,” said Karin Deutsch Karlekar, PEN America’s director of writers at risk.
“Jailing one writer for their words is a miscarriage of justice, but the systematic suppression of writers around the world represents an erosion of free expression – which is often the precursor to the destruction of other fundamental human rights," she added.
The report found that Iran was the second-worst offender, jailing 43 writers, even if the number saw a slight drop from 49. Saudi Arabia ranked third for jailing 23 writers.
The number of imprisoned women writers also increased to 59, marking a 15 per cent jump from 2023, according to the index. Iran was the biggest jailer of women writers, with 13 women arrested for writing against suppression and mandatory hijab laws.
Vietnam ranked fourth for jailing 23 writers. Israel ranked fifth with 21 writers in prison amid its retaliatory war against Hamas in Gaza, which has killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Strip. The war was triggered by Hamas's attack on southern Israel, when the militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 hostages.
Russia, which is in its third year of war on Ukraine, jailed 18 writers. The report found that the majority of the writers were jailed for anti-war sentiments. A court in Russia this month convicted four journalists of extremism for working for an anti-corruption group founded by Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and sentenced them to five and a half years in prison each.
"War, conflict, and attacks against the free exchange of information and ideas go hand in hand with lies and propaganda,” Ms Karlekar said. “Writers represent a threat to disinformation and encourage people to think critically about what is going on around them."
China jails most writers in the world for sixth year in a row
Iran named as one of the worst offenders for jailing mostly women writers protesting against suppression
www.independent.co.uk
