Nyt nummer af The Dissident Blog er ude nu

Svensk PEN udgiver det fortjenstfulde nettidskrift, The Dissident Blog. Senesten nummer sætter fokus på de horrible vilkår for skribenter i Mexico. Hermed et pluk fra tidsskriftets præsentation. Du finder The Dissident Blog her

 

 

oan Grillo, in his harrowing article about Mexico’s war on drugs in this issue of the Dissident Blog, raises a disturbing question: is it possible for us as journalists to use all the material we have about the violence that follows in the wake of the drug trafficking or are we then playing into the hands of the criminal organizations by strengthening their rule of fear? The violence is meant to inspire fear. To scare us. And to silence us. These syndicates expect society at large to step aside and allow them to operate undisturbed. The message the violence sends is especially directed towards writers and journalists: write what we sanction and be quiet about things we want to keep in the dark. Or you will die. We are witnessing a regular war on information. In his book El Narco (2011) Grillo describes it lucidly and with outrage.

From the PEN perspective the really frightening aspect is that the freedom of the press and the freedom of speech are yet again being threatened—a development that has worsened in the past few years. In very different localities—from Russia and China, to Turkey and Belarus—the right to write about one’s own society and to discuss problems within these is being curtailed. Either we are talking about dictatorships or semi-dictatorships or even democracies the methods drawn on to restrict a free debate are often similar: shoot the messenger. More than anywhere else this seems to hold true for today’s Mexico, the country that holds the depressing world record for having the highest number of murdered journalists.

How is it then possible to continue writing without unintentionally becoming a pawn in the war on information? Alongside Ioan Grillo, in this thematic issue about the deadly war on information in Mexico, we present various narratives by people who are constantly living in threat of their lives—stories by journalists who have been subjected to assault and/or kidnappings. In addition, Darío Ramirez, director of the organisation for freedom of speech in Mexico called Article 19, and Jennifer Clement, former president of PEN in Mexico, give detailed background information to the current situation. We also publish a few reports about current developments in perhaps the worst affected place of all: Ciudad Juarez, situated on the border between Mexico and the USA.

 

Dansk PEN indkalder til ordinær generalforsamling

Kære PEN-medlem,

 

Dansk PEN afholder ordinær generalforsamling torsdag den 21. marts kl. 18.30 til 20.00.

 

Bemærk, at vi i år har flyttet generalforsamlingen til en ny adresse, nemlig Nytorv 7, baghuset på 2. sal. Her råder rejsebureauet Airtiki

over et stort, smukt mødelokale, som vi har fået lov til at låne.

 

I forlængelse af generalforsamlingen vil der blive afholdt medlemsmøde hvortil vi har indbudt Københavns fribyforfatter til

at  fortælle om sig selv og sit arbejde og give os et indtryk af den aktuelle situation i Irak, hvad angår skribenters og udgiveres

muligheder  for at virke og leve i landet. Denne anden del af aftenens arrangement starter kl. 20 og slutter kl. 21.30.

 

Kontingentopkrævningen for 2013 er netop sendt ud. Hvis du er i restance med kontingentet for 2012, så må du meget gerne

hurtigst muligt sørge for betalingen. Dels giver det dig stemmeret på generalforsamlingen og dels bidrager det på helt afgørende

vis til PENs daglige arbejde. Hvis du er i tvivl om hvorvidt du er i restance, så kontakt endelige sekretariatet.

 

 

Bestyrelsen glæder sig til at se dig til generalforsamlingen.

 

Med venlig hilsen

Mille Rode