Archives for Action Alerts
This Week’s Freedom to Write Action Alert - China and Turkey
June 24, 2008
Here is this week’s Rapid Action Network (RAN) Action Alert. There are two letters of appeal this week: the first for a detained internet writer in China; the second for publisher Ragip Zarakolu, on trial under Turkey’s Article 301.
I know we have been sending a lot of letters to China, but the Olympics are quickly approaching and as China has recently increased regulations on free expression, we must increase our efforts to defend that freedom. New rules have been introduced, aimed at reinforcing controls over Chinese “fixers” working for foreign journalists and overall foreigners visiting China during the Olympic Games. Chinese citizens working for foreign news media must now comply with new rules designed to get them to register with the authorities. There has also been an increase in police controls of foreign journalists trying to cover protests by parents whose children were killed when schools collapsed in the Sichuan earthquake.
Sample letters of appeal are located below.
Last Week’s Freedom to Write Action Alert - China
June 06, 2008
With just 62 days left until the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Beijing, China’s number of imprisoned writers has jumped to 42. This week’s three letters of appeal go to help 5 Tibetan and Chinese writers who have been under attack, imprisoned, or convicted.
This Week’s Freedom to Write Action Alert - Peru
April 07, 2008
This week’s Action Alert is especially upsetting: twenty-year-old Melissa Rocío Patiño Hinostroza, a poetry and business administration student from Peru, has been detained since 29 February 2008 on charges of terrorism. If convicted, she reportedly faces up to 20 years in prison. It is understood that the charges stem from her alleged involvement with a leftwing political organization, which the Peruvian government claims is linked to a terrorist group. Patiño denies any political affiliations and no concrete evidence has yet been produced to back up the charges.
Last Week’s Freedom to Write Action Alert!
March 24, 2008
There are two Action Alerts this week. The first is PEN’s monthly 301 Action in Turkey for publisher Ragip Zarakolu. The second is regarding new journalist restrictions in Somaliland.
Last Week’s Freedom to Write Action Alert - China
March 03, 2008
There are two Action Alerts for this week, both of which are for China. The first is expressing concern for the health and treatment of four imprisoned writers in China, Xu Wei, Jin Haike, Yang Zili and Zhang Honghai. The second is protesting the restrictions placed on three female dissident writers in honor of International Women’s Day on March 8.