Tomorrow (9th March 2022) 10am GMT: ‘Dialogues on War’ join the 4th live conversation on #Ukraine with Myroslav Marynovych, Vice Rector of Ukrainian Catholic University and Serhii Plokhii, Director of Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. JOIN: https://fb.me/e/n4rvCjWdU
Author Archives: Lia Mills
SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE
PEN Ukraine together with PEN Belarus, Polish PEN Club and Open Culture Foundation is organizing a public fundraiser to support the creative community of Ukraine.
The funds will go to help Ukrainian writers, journalists, scholars, translators, and artists who have found themselves under threat as a result of the Russian war against Ukraine.
The funds will be used to alleviate the urgent needs of Ukrainian creatives, whose lives are now in direct danger:
– urgent evacuation and resettlement in the cities of Western Ukraine,
– urgent evacuation and resettlement in safe countries.
Culture is one of the chief bastions of Ukrainian freedom and we must ensure that members of the Ukrainian cultural community can continue to speak out loudly and without hindrance.
Support now: https://penbelarus.org/en/2022…
International Writers in solidarity with UKRAINE
https://pen-international.org/news/nobel-laureates-writers-and-artists-worldwide-condemn-russias-invasion-of-ukraine
PEN International gathered more than 1000 signatures in 24 hours in support of the writers, artists, journalists and people of Ukraine
Nedim Turfent (Turkey)
Nedim Turfent write back to Ai Weiwei:
Irish PEN featured writer Paola Ugaz (Peru) at risk (20/01/22)
Paola Ugaz is a Peruvian investigative journalist, editor and writer. She is facing a campaign of harassment, threats, and defamation lawsuits, including allegations of crimes due to her investigations into corruption, as well as physical, psychological and sexual abuse within the Peruvian religious organization Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana, which she has conducted since 2010.
In February 2021, Ugaz was served a lawsuit that could land her in prison. Ugaz’s case is part of a sophisticated system in Peru where powerful groups use the courts as whips to silence journalists by fabricating criminal allegations against them.
PEN International considers that the charges, lawsuits, threats and ongoing harassment against Ugaz are violating her right to freedom of expression, as well as her civil and political rights. PEN calls on the Peruvian authorities to dismiss the lawsuits against her and to cease immediately the harassment Ugaz faces for her work as a journalist, editor and writer.
Please, send appeals to the Peruvian authorities:
- Expressing deep concern about Ugaz’s charges, lawsuits, threats and ongoing harassment, which are in relation to her work.
- Calling for a halt to the judicial proceedings against Ugaz, considering that the complaints and prosecution are intended to stop her investigations and prevent the publication of her books, as well as to impose a chilling effect on other writers and journalists, and prevent them from exercising their right to freedom of expression.
- Calling upon the Peruvian authorities to repeal criminal defamation legislation, which is still in force in Peru. Such legislation impedes the exercise of citizens’ rights to information and to hold their governments to account. It also limits the exercise of the right to freedom of expression, and therefore erodes the work of writers, journalists and editors.
Send appeals to:
President of the Republic of Peru
Sr. Pedro Castillo
Twitter: @MerinoDeLama @presidenciaperu
Address: Jr. de la Unión s / n 1st block
Cercado de Lima, Lima – Peru
Public Ministry Prosecutor’s Office of the Nation
Mrs. Zoraida Ávalos Rivera
Attorney of the Nation
Email zavalos@mpfn.gob.pe
Tel. +51 208 5555 (5202) – (5201)
Twitter @FiscaliaPeru
Address: Av. Abancay Cdra 5 (Headquarters in Lima) LIMA – Peru
Judiciary of Peru
Judge Elvia Barrios Alvarado
President of the Judiciary
Email: ebarrios@pj.gob.pe
Tel. (01) 4101010 Annex 11000
T. @Poder_Judicial_
Address Av. Paseo de la República S / N Palacio de Justicia, Cercado, Lima – Peru
Ombudsman
Walter Gutierrez Camacho
Ombudsman
Tel: 01-311 0300 – Annex 1202E
Email: defensor@defensoria.gob.pe
Address: Jirón Ucayali 394 – 398 Lima 1
Send copies to the Embassy of Peru in your own country. Embassy addresses may be found here: https://www.embassy-worldwide.com/country/peru/
Publicity:
We encourage PEN members to:
- Publish articles and opinion pieces in your national or local press highlighting the case of Ugaz and the importance of freedom of expression in Peru;
- Share information about Ugaz and her activities and work on social media, using the hashtag #PaolaUgaz
Please find some useful materials below, in English and Spanish:
A espaldas del Vaticano, el Sodalicio saca su dinero de Perú para no reparar a los sobrevivientes
El Vaticano espera las explicaciones del Sodalicio con el fin de garantizar las reparaciones
Please inform PEN International of any action you take or any response you get.
Background
In 2015, Pedro Salinas and Paola Ugaz published the book Mitad monjes, mitad soldados (Half Monks, Half Soldiers) (Planeta, 2015), which uncovered the biggest scandal within a Catholic organization in Peru. Ugaz began to receive complaints and lawsuits following the announcement she was publishing a new book (yet to be published) about the group’s financial management.
Ugaz faces at least five legal proceedings for the publication of her book and investigative journalism. In October 2020, she received a death threat on her Instagram account and a new hearing was held, in which the judge decided to open a judicial process against her. The trial stems from a complaint filed by Luciano Revoredo Rojas, a former congressional candidate and director of the conservative Catholic news and commentary website La Abeja, who accused Ugaz of aggravated defamation.
(See Action on Day of the Imprisoner Writer Campaign 2020 – Paola Ugaz)
Furthermore, in November 2020, Carlos Alberto Gomez de la Torre Pretell, a ‘Sodalicio’ employee, sued Ugaz for defamation following her participation in a 40-second statement, broadcast by Al Jazeera in a documentary titled “The Sodalitium Scandal.”
For a long time, Ugaz has been the target of a smear and disinformation campaign in relation to her work as a journalist where, without any evidence, she is linked to alleged criminal networks, money laundering, uranium and plutonium trading, among others. She is also the target of harassment, including the publication of private data about her children, who are minors, and about her colleague Pedro Salinas, co-author of the book.
Ugaz is currently facing defamation suits by Revoredo Rojas and Gómez de la Torre, and is being investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office as the head of a money laundering network.
Paola Ugaz could face preventive detention, imprisonment or a ban on leaving her country.
For more information, please contact Alicia Quiñones, Americas Programme Coordinator, at PEN International, email: alicia.quinones@pen-international.org
PEN Norway Event concerning the Iranian writer Narges Mohammadi
Narges Mohammadi is an Iranian writer, journalist, human rights defender, and Honorary Member of Danish, Belgian, Norwegian, and Swedish PEN. She is the former Vice-President and spokesperson of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), which advocates for human rights reform and represents political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in legal proceedings. You can find more details about her case here.
In November 2021, Mohammadi was arrested yet again and is now facing 80 lashes. You can find more information about her current situation in PEN International’s latest statement on her case here
Our colleagues at PEN Norway are organising an online event on January 25 about Mohammadi, her current situation, and the treatment of political prisoners and activists in Iran, followed by screening her documentary film “White Torture.”
Please see PEN Norway’s program 25 January: https://www.facebook.com/events/358228265638858?ref=newsfeed
PROGRAMME
In the conversation:
– Taghi Rahmani, Narges Mohammadi’s husband, journalist, writer and activist
– Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize winner (2003), political activist, lawyer and a former judge
– Asieh Amini, journalist, poet and Board member of PEN Norway
– Benyamin Farnam, filmmaker and Communications Worker at PEN Norway
Moderator: Moloud Hajizadeh, journalist
The event will be in English and will be streamed on PEN Norway’s Facebook page.
Afghan
Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme
Led by English PEN, we have joined over 30 arts, media, and human rights organisations in calling on the UK govt to open the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, which was announced over four months ago. Read our letter to the Home Secretary here: https://www.englishpen.org/posts/news/afghanistan-cultural-organisations-urge-uk-government-to-open-acrs/
Winter Solstice party 21st December 2021
All members are invited to our Winter Solstice reading party, starting at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 21st December.
The theme for readings is Light in Darkness. Looking forward to seeing you there!
PEN Friends letter-writing event
Here is a quote from Enoh Meyomesse (Cameroon) about the effect of receiving letters from PEN members while he was in prison:
“Your letters set me free. Your postcards broke my chains.”
On 15th November, to mark the Day of the Imprisoned Writer (and the first anniversary of the re-launch of Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann), sixteen members joined us via Zoom to talk about selected writers and write letters and cards of support. Our featured writers were: Nedim Turfent (Turkey), Ilhan Sami Çomak (Turkey), Dawit Isaak (Eritrea), Amanuel Asrat (Eritea), Nasrin Sotoudeh (Iran), Pham Doan Trang (Vietnam) and Paola Ugaz (Peru).
This was a wonderfully friendly, engaged session where we thought about and talked about PEN’s principles of supporting writers who have been imprisoned because of their work, their ideas, their courage and their belief in freedom of expression.
With thanks to English PEN, PEN Norway and the Free the Poet Campaign and PEN International for their support.