Bulletin des Ecrivains en Prison 2010 préparé par Mavis Guinard

LIU XIAOBO, grande figure du mouvement de Tienanmen en 1989 et l'un des auteurs de la Charte 08, inspirée de la Charte 77, des dissidents tchécoslovaques des années 1970, qui a été publiée sur Internet le 10 décembre 2008 à l'occasion du 60e anniversaire de la Déclaration universelle des droits de l'homme condamné à onze ans de prison pour 'Incitation à la subversion du pouvoir de l'Etat'. Appel rejeté.

Deux lettres de Jia Jianying, l'épouse de He Depu, membre honoraire de notre centre, à Dinah Lee Küng (dont le nom chinois est Li Qing).
La première lettre comprend la lettre de He Depu à son épouse

Natalia Estemirova, militante des droits humains russe assassinée en Tchétchénie le 15 juillet !

RUSSIA/CHECHNYA: Human Rights Defender, Natalia Estemirova, Murdered







Conférence CODEP/WIPC, June 2009.

Par  Hoang Nguyen Bao Vet: Compte Rendu (Rapport) de la Conférence CODEP (Comité de Défense des Ecrivains Persécutés) / WiPC (Comité du PEN International pour la défense des Ecrivains en Prison) qui a eu lieu à Oslo, Norvège, début juin 2009; suivi du discours de l'inauguration de la conférence par Jones Gahr Store, Ministre des Affaires Etrangères de la Norvège

Concerne notre membre honoraire, l'écrivain tibétaine, Woeser Tsering qui déclare aux autorités chinoises: "Vous avez les armes. J'ai une plume." avec: photo de WT, message de Claude Levenson et sa traduction du poème: La Peur à Lhassa.

Le Réseau Liberté d'Expression du Comité des Ecrivains en Prison a été créé en Avril 2008 à la réunion du WiPC de Glasgow. Il se propose de suivre le travail des Organisations Intergouvernementales (IGO) -- notamment au sein de l'ONU et de l'Union Européenne. Notre centre y fait partie. Voir ci-dessous en gras la liste des centres participants.

Ci-dessous, le dernier rapport du Réseau sur:
- la Conférence Durban II contre le Racisme(Avril 20-24) à la quelle Zeki Ergas a représenté PEN Int. (voir son rapport, ci-inclus)
- La 10.e session du Conseil des Droits de l'Homme (en mars 2009)
- La 5.e Révision Périodique Universelle

International PEN WiPC IGO Free Expression Network

1 May 2009

At the WiPC Conference in Glasgow in April 2008, a number of centres expressed an interest in forming a network on PEN’s work within the United Nations, the European Union and other Intergovernmental Organisations (IGOs). The network provides information on activities and invites ideas and input from participating Centres and since April 08 there have been updates every two months. The IGO network Centres are: American, Belgian (fl), Canadian, Catalan, English, Norwegian, Suisse Romande.

This alert covers:

Durban II – Religious Defamation Concerns Sidelined by Controversy Over Iranian Statement, Boycott and Walkouts
United Nations Council on Human Rights 10th Session, March 2009
Universal Periodic Review – 5th Session

Durban II – Religious Defamation Concerns Sidelined by Controversy Over Iranian Statement, Boycott and Walkouts

The Durban II Conference was held over four days – 20-24 April – hosted by the United Nations in Geneva, was mired in controversy that detracted from the central objective, to find a common approach to dealing with the global problem of xenophobia and racism. Well before the event, governments expressed concerns that it would suffer the same fate as the first conference, held in Durban, South Africa in 2001, which ended in shambles when a document presented to the conference aimed at addressing global race hatred and xenophobia, included paragraphs that equated Zionism with racism.

A draft declaration prepared for “Durban II” in its early stages contained references once again to criticism of Israel, as well as clauses against “religious defamation”. These clauses were removed from later drafts following an outcry from a number of states who threatened to pull out of the Conference. Although the most offensive references were removed, there remained concerns. Some states chose to boycott the event. They included the USA, Australia, Israel, Germany, Poland, Netherlands, Italy and Canada.

Other states chose not to send their most senior politicians, instead being represented by lower level officials. This meant that the only government leader present was President Ahmadinejad, who took the opportunity to refer to the Israeli government as ‘racist’. In scenes broadcast in the international media, a number of diplomats walked out of the meeting room in protest as he spoke, returning after he had finished speaking. They were accompanied by boos and jeering from supporters of Iran. To see a video of President Ahmadinejad’s speech click here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8008572.stm

For NGOs and others who had seen the conference as an important venue to debate and discuss the critical issues of xenophobia and racism, the politicisation of the event was a huge disappointment.

After some consideration, the WiPC before the conference decided it would be futile to issue a statement that would be lost in the predicted chaos. We nevertheless did not boycott the event and were represented by Zeki Ergas, a member of Suisse Romande PEN, whose report is attached.

The final text adopted by the Durban II has no reference to religious defamation, and for this PEN is grateful. However, the ugly scenes and the damage done to the UN during the event is deeply regretted and the WiPC recommends that International PEN members world wide do their utmost to support the international community in opposing the xenophobia and racism, whether through the UN mechanisms or elsewhere, guided by PEN’s Charter.


United Nations Council on Human Rights 10th Session, March 2009

Meanwhile in March 2009, the 10th Session of the UN Council on Human Rights was held. Fawzia Assaad and other members of Suisse Romande was able to attend.

Fawzia presented a PEN statement on Colombia, co signed by the World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC), an umbrella organization of 45 press freedom organizations on five continents, as part of its contribution to the report on the country’s adherence to human rights under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). See text attached.
To watch the presentation go to:

United Nations Webcast - The Tenth Session of Human Rights Council
(fast forward to 47 minutes, 55 seconds to hear the statement by PEN and the WPFC):

The Peruvian government representatives made a surprise intervention responding to PEN’s concerns about the case against poet Melissa Patiño, who was featured in the 24 February 2009 report of the Special Rapporteur on Counterterrorism to the Human Rights Council. The Freedom of Expression Rapporteur had been sent a PEN Rapid Action Alert on her case and had raised it directly with the Peruvian authorities. It is highly unusual for governments to raise individual cases in the UN forum.
For more background and a transcript of the intervention of the Peruvian representative, see the document attached.

To listen to the Peruvian government’s intervention go to:

United Nations Webcast - The Tenth Session of Human Rights Council

Reporting to the UN was the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion, and a number of NGOs, among them our colleagues at Article 19, presented statements on the issue. To read them go to:
http://www.article19.org/pdfs/press/human-rights-council-article-19-and-cihrs-condemn-adoption-of-resolution-on-.pdf
and http://www.article19.org/pdfs/press/geneva-article-19-and-cihrs-welcome-agreement-on-the-final-outcome-document-.pdf
Another suggested piece is the one from our colleagues from Index on Censorship entitled ‘The slow death of freedom of expression’. See here http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2009/03/26/the-slow-death-of-freedom-of-expression/

Frank La Rue Lewy, Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression will be presenting his report to the next UN Council meeting in early June 2009.

Universal Periodic Review – 5th Session

The next UPR working group session will be from 4 to 15 May 2009. PEN WiPC has submitted two reports to it which will be included in the discussion – on Afghanistan and on Vietnam. We hope to have representatives present and to be able to make our comments on the state reports during the May session.

The following session will be from 30 November to 11 December 2009. PEN has identified three key countries to be raised at that session that are of concern: They are Eritrea, Ethiopia and Norway. As there is no PEN Centre in Eritrea, we have submitted a short report to the UN for consideration by the UPR. We will be recommending to PEN Centres that there be lobbying on Ethiopian issues in the run up to the December sitting. Norwegian issues are being raised in a report by a coalition of NGOs, including Norwegian PEN. It is important that countries in Western Europe and North America also be subject to scrutiny and for PEN to include them in its UPR programme.

For further details contact Sara Whyatt at the Writers in Prison Committee London Office: Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER UK Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7405 0338 Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7405 0339 e-mail: sara.whyatt@internationalpen.org.uk


PEN a inscrit dans la D éclaration des Droits de l'Homme que "tout individu a droit à la liberté d'expression". PEN défend toujours ce droit.

Les premiers cas d'écrivains persécutés apparurent dans les années '30. D'abord des Allemands. Puis en Espagne, l'exécution du poète Garcia Lorca souleva des protestations dans le monde entier. Lorsque Arthur Koestler fut lui aussi condamné à mort, l'intervention de PEN aida à le libérer. Après la guerre, au fil des années, PEN est venu au secours d'autres écrivains célèbres, futurs Prix Nobel ou hommes d'Etat: Wole Soyinka, Vaclav Havel, ou plus récemment Kim Dae-Jung. Et continue à le faire. Car pour chaque poète, écrivain, éditeur ou journaliste libéré, un autre peut se retrouver en prison. Les menaces de mort et assassinats augmentent avec l'impunité des meurtriers.

A Londres, le Comité des Ecrivains en Prison (voir PEN International - Programmes) recense et vérifie les cas avec l'aide d'autres organisations humanitaires. Il s'efforce de faire relâcher les détenus, améliorer les conditions de détention, suit les procès. Un réseau électronique d'intervention rapide a été créé pour alerter les membres à envoyer aux gouvernements concernés protestations et pétitions. Sont elles utiles? Oui lorsque ces gouvernements ont besoin de la bonne opinion internationale. Mais aujourd'hui, dans bien des pays, les mesures anti-terroristes sont une nouvelle menace pour la liberté d'expression, les lois sont devenues plus dures, plus restrictives. PEN doit redoubler d'efforts.

"Si un seul écrivain dans un pays est dans les fers, quelques maillons de ses chaînes nous entravent tous." - Vaclav Havel

Mavis Guinard's Bulletin

Letter from wife of He Depu to PEN membership

Plusieurs membres du PEN Suisse Romand sont actifs dans ce domaine, dont: Mavis Guinard (bulletin); Hoang Nguyen Bao Vet (Vietnam, Birmanie, Femmes); Dinah Lee Küng (Chine); Zeki Ergas (Turquie); Claude Levenson (Birmanie, Tibet); Fawzia Assaad (Conseil des Droits de l'Homme)