Every year, on 15 November, PEN International and PEN centres around the world mark the day of the imprisoned writer and stand in solidarity with at-risk and imprisoned writers around the globe. I welcome to the gallery representatives of PEN, and I thank them for all the work that they do on this matter.
The day of the imprisoned writer marks a moment to call for all imprisoned writers to be released and all at-risk writers to be protected. I thank members from all sides of the chamber for supporting my motion and the debate today. I hope that we can, as cross-party representatives from across Scotland, unite to call for all writers in prison to be released and for all threats and attacks to be defended against and investigated in line with the law and international standards, and, where individuals have been murdered, to demand full, transparent and robust investigations in order to ensure that those behind such crimes are brought to justice.
Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and is essential for society to function well. If we are to have good governance and democracy, intercultural dialogue and peace, we must have freedom of expression. I would ask anyone who might be inclined to shut down freedom of expression in the name of their cause or belief, no matter how benign or positive they feel that their views are, to reflect on where that leads and what it might mean in the long run.
The International Cities of Refuge Network states:
“A closed, censored society will soon become something like an autocracy with corruption and frightened servants instead of citizens.”
Whether people in power like it or not, critique, dialogue, different ideas, different opinions, robust challenge and scrutiny are essential in the long run, and writers everywhere provide those things. They inform the public, speak out for the marginalised, interrogate power, challenge censorship and speak words that others need to hear. When writers are censored, imprisoned, attacked or murdered, the world loses vital voices that strengthen democracy everywhere. Globally, far too many writers, journalists, novelists, poets, essayists, translators, publishers, editors, playwrights, cartoonists, bloggers and citizen journalists are jailed. Around the globe, laws about defamation, hate speech, national security and blasphemy are misused by oppressive regimes to silence dissenting voices.
There has never been a more dangerous time to be a journalist. According to Reporters without Borders, 80 journalists were killed worldwide in 2018. So far this year, 234 journalists, 136 citizen journalists and 17 media assistants have been imprisoned in the course of their duties. They have been imprisoned for doing their jobs, informing the public, speaking out for the marginalised, interrogating power, challenging censorship and speaking words that others need to hear. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 1,354 journalists around the world have been killed between 1992 and 2019, and 31 journalists have lost their lives so far this year.
In addition to raising awareness of the plight of imprisoned writers in general, PEN uses the day of the imprisoned writer to direct attention to several specific persecuted or imprisoned writers and their individual circumstances. Colleagues on all sides of the chamber will, in their contributions, talk about the work of those individuals and the injustice around their situation that needs to be resolved. On the day of the imprisoned writer, we read the words that others have tried to silence.
Those who try to suppress people’s work should hear loud and clear that censorship or imprisonment cannot silence the voices of writers. Today, in the Scottish Parliament, we stand together to protect at-risk writers and to stand up for free expression.
To close, I would like to share the words, a poem, of Behrouz Boochani, who is an Iranian-Kurdish journalist, associate professor, human rights defender, poet and film producer. This morning, Amnesty International shared the very good news that he had been freed. I am delighted that he will be appearing at WORD Christchurch, where he can read his own words.
In celebration of his freedom, and in solidarity with writers who are still imprisoned, I will share his poem, “The Black Kite”.
Over Manus Island,
a black kite flies.
A few youths-
still with energy
to bear the difficulties
of this prison camp-
made it.
The black kite flies,
a messenger of freedom
for us, the forgotten prisoners.
It circles
higher and higher
above the camp,
above the beautiful coconuts.
Our eyes follow its flight,
it seems to want to tear its rope.
It breaks free,
dances towards the ocean,
flies far and again farther
until no one can see it.
The youths stare into the empty sky
after their impossible dream.
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