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News: MEXICO – INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 8 MARCH 2012
Murdered and Disappeared Women Writers
Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world in which
to be a writer. Since 2006, at least 45 journalists, writers and
bloggers have been murdered or disappeared, most of them in the course
of their work.
Since 2009 there has been an escalation in violence against writers,
with women increasingly being targeted. Five of the nine Mexican writers
killed in 2011 were women; their murders were particularly savage (see
pdf).
On International Women’s Day, PEN International calls on PEN members to remember our fallen and missing female colleagues.
You can do this in two ways:
1. Arrange for obituaries to be placed in national or local press
(please see pdf for very effective examples by Swiss German PEN and
Swiss Italian and Reto-Romansh PEN).
2. Write to the Mexican authorities calling for an end to impunity
and a thorough investigation into the killings and disappearances of
these women and of all the murdered and disappeared Mexican writers (see
pdf for addresses).
For a list of the women writers, examples of obituaries and addresses of the authorities to whom you should protest see MEXICO Women’s Day Eng
PEN will be campaigning on Mexico throughout 2012, building on the
successes of both the PEN Protesta delegation in January 2012 and the
Day of the Dead Campaign in November 2011. Please let us know what you will be doing to commemorate the
murdered and missing women writers of Mexico on International Women’s
Day.
For further details please contact Cathal Sheerin at the Writers in
Prison Committee London Office: PEN International, Brownlow House, 50-51
High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER Tel: +44 (0) 207 405 0338 Fax +44 (0) 207
405 0339 email: cathal.sheerin@pen-international.org
News: Monthly letter from John Ralston Saul, International President – February 2012
17 February 2012
Dear PEN Members, Dear friends,
By now many of you will have read about our PEN International mission
to Mexico. There is a great deal on the website. Please have a look.
This mission was important for two reasons. First, the situation in
Mexico is getting worse, with over eighty writers killed already.
Newspapers and broadcaster offices are being bombed. In several states
freedom of expression has effectively been shut down. Writers know the
consequences of speaking up in many circumstances. And this cannot help
but have a chilling effect on the ability of publishers to publish what
they wish.
Second, we took a new approach to the mission itself. The idea is to
develop a flexible model that can be adjusted and applied to future
missions – Turkey and China, to take just two possibilities. We were a
large delegation: fourteen , including the three Mexico PEC
participants. The organizational strategy was to include the full
international executive – probably a first; and all seven of the North
American PEN Centres – again probably a first. We had hoped to have
some Latin American centres, but that didn’t work out. In any case, the
approach was both international and regional. With the chair of WiPC,
as well as Japan PEN and English PEN added to the group, plus a legal
expert, it was a very strong delegation. We had a legal expert – again a
new initiative – because we have been working on Mexico with a leading
law school (the University of Toronto). We developed a very succinct
policy position, easy to distribute and communicate. (Read the paper here).
PEN International calls for an end to the war on Mexico’s
journalists, writers and bloggers.
Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a journalist. Since 2000, there
have been at least 67 journalists, writers and bloggers killed; 12 disappeared; countless threatened and
harassed; and frequent attacks on media outlets with explosives and firearms.
Despite its Constitutional and international human rights obligations, Mexico continues to violate
journalists’ and writers’ basic human rights. The rights violated include the right to life, right to live
free of torture, right to work, and right to freedom of expression.
Crimes against journalists are not properly investigated and authorities have failed to
successfully prosecute over 90% of cases. Despite its name, the Special Prosecutor’s Office for the
Attention to Crimes Committed against Freedom of Expression does not have jurisdiction to investigate
crimes, lay charges, or tackle cases involving drug trafficking organizations. Crimes allegedly committed
by members of the armed forces fall under military jurisdiction where impunity is nearly absolute.
There is a web of laws that limits expression and exposure of corruption. Fourteen Mexican states
have laws that criminalize freedom of expression. Civil defamation laws are used to harass journalists
who uncover corruption. Regulatory frameworks impede media diversification.
THE SITUATION IS URGENT AND DEMANDS AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE. THE MEXICAN
GOVERNMENT MUST:
1. Ensure that the Committee to Protect and Prevent Aggressions against Journalists is
transparent and accessible, has appropriate technical expertise and resources, and is able to
adopt and implement binding protection orders.
2. Ensure prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation and prosecution of all perpetrators
within federal jurisdiction, and commit appropriate resources to allow the same.
3. Reform laws and policies to ensure that journalists and diverse forms of media are able to
operate without threat of legal sanction.
4. Amend laws to ensure that abuses allegedly committed by members of the armed forces are
investigated and prosecuted by civilian authorities.
THE GOVERNMENTS OF CANADA, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE EUROPEAN UNION MUST:
5. Place this issue on the foreign policy agenda by insisting that the above recommendations be
implemented.
6. Condition future counternarcotics aid on the government taking genuine and effective action
to redress serious human rights violations against journalists.
To learn more, download a copy of the PEN Canada and the International Human Rights Program at the
University of Toronto Faculty of Law’s report, Corruption, Impunity, Silence: The War on Mexico’s
Journalists at: http://bit.ly/ycdXYP
We also took an approach which reflects the reality of PEN. That is,
we made full use of our expertise and put forward a clear program for
change. But we equally spoke and acted from the full reality of PEN.
We are writers – writers of every sort and publishers and lovers of the
word. We are people of the word. Our greatest strength lies in our
ability to use those words and to do so publicly. We are thousands of
writers around the world with an uncountable public. We can go to
meetings with ministers and officials and argue our case for free
expression very effectively. We do this and must continue to do it.
But our weight, our force, our influence, comes from our voice and our
readers and listeners and viewers. As the Delegation began its work on
the ground, we published a full page ad in Mexico City – a letter to
Mexican writers from writers around the world. It is on the website and
we want all of you to add your names. Meanwhile, several members of
the delegation have already written publicly about what they saw and
heard and what they sense can be done. I am attaching them. More are
coming. Please write your own articles or republish those already
written; place them where you can, including on your website.
Finally, PEN Mexico, led by Jennifer Clement, organized a remarkable
public event in which fifty-two writers spoke – Mexicans and the
Delegation, famous novelists, leading columnists and small town
journalists at risk. Each person spoke for one minute. It was
beautiful, disturbing, moving. There was a large audience and every
form off coverage. The message passed to the broad public and to the
officials. It was a moment when our existence as a great literary
organization and a freedom of expression leader produced a perfectly
integrated voice
The outcome is that we have succeeded in putting the issue of
writer/journalist safety on the public agenda. Now we have to help keep
it there. But we also helped to push the public policy agenda in the
right direction. Again, we must now be persistent, all of us, in
supporting our friends in Mexico and the other organizations that work
in this area.
*********
By the time you read this I’ll be in Korea with Gil-won Lee and our
Centre there. Hori Takeaki is also coming, as are Markéta Hejkalová and
Laura McVeigh. We’ll be talking about the upcoming congress. After
that I will go on to Addis Ababa for the first national meeting of
Ethiopian PEN, and then to Djibouti with both Afar and Somali speaking
PEN Centres.
I can’t help but add that we seem to be entering into an
unpredictable period. You will see from the website that there is a
developing situation in India which raises serious questions about the
legal system and the political will; there are new difficulties in
Saudi Arabia; all of this adding to the already long list of threats to
free expression and, yes, to the full expression of literature.
Please do follow up on the Mexico situation.
And do translate the Girona Manifesto into your language so that we can all make use of it.
Best to all of you,
John Ralston Saul
Mexican writer Eduardo Lizalde, centre, speaks during
an event where members of a PEN International delegation declare their
support for a free press and freedom of expression in Mexico.
REUTERS
Enlarge this image
John Ralston Saul
Where words are ‘rags to cover corpses’
john ralston saul
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Published
It was a surprising scene. Fifty-two writers lined up in alphabetical
order in four rows, famous novelists and columnists mixed with
provincial journalists, outdoors in the centre of Mexico City. Facing
them: a bank of cameras, a large crowd of both press and the public.
The
legendary Elena Poniatowska sat near the back in an elegant red suit.
Novelist Russell Banks in the front. Laura Esquivel of Like Water for Chocolate
sat in the middle near Rocio Gallegos, the courageous young woman from
the Juarez newspaper El Diario, which has taken on the drug cartels. Its
front-page statement in the form of a question – What do you want from
us? – has become the Mexican equivalent of Zola's J'Accuse.
With
the Mexicans were a dozen leading writers from the Canadian and Quebec
PEN centres, both American centres and those in Japan and England.
Two
hours later, the crowd had, if anything grown, the cameras were still
rolling. By then, each of us had risen to our feet to condemn the murder
of Mexican journalists, the deaths, the violence, the bombs exploding
in radio, television and newspaper buildings, the disappearance of
freedom of expression in several Mexican states; the death of more than
80 writers since 2000, with the murder rate still rising.
It is a
classic conundrum. Mexico is now one of the most dangerous places in the
world to be a writer. Yet, you fly in with a sophisticated businessman –
Mexican or foreign – on your left; on your right, an eager tourist. You
arrive in one of the world's great cities, which is looking better than
it has for a long time thanks to its mayor, Marcelo Ebrard. The mayor
was the first to receive us, expressing great frustration with what is
happening elsewhere.
Which brings me back to that remarkable
Sunday event. With national elections this year, no one in politics or
government wants freedom of expression to be part of the daily
conversation. There is nothing in it for any of them. Our delegation was
invited to Mexico to help drag free expression into the centre of
public consciousness. Not because the death of writers is more important
than the death of tens of thousands of non-writers. But because freedom
of expression belongs to all of them – writers and readers,
broadcasters and listeners and viewers.
Where the power lies
Out
there on the front line, it is always hard to know where power lies.
When writers are being killed, it often seems as if violence is the real
power. Governments and businessmen now like to say prosperity leads to
democracy. How is it then that the worst violence in Mexico is in the
most prosperous states?
This past week, we made a serious attempt
to remind everyone that freedom of expression is the greatest power –
the muscle of democracy. It began with a full page in the newspaper El
Universal – a letter to Mexican writers signed by 170 writers around the
world – many Nobel Prize winners and all the ex-presidents of PEN. The
message was simple: This situation can't be swept into the silent
corners. The news is spreading around the world – something is seriously
wrong in Mexico. Here is a great civilization that is in trouble.
Virtually
all the grassroots organizations and non-governmental organizations
working on human rights and free expression came together to advise us
on the situation. It isn't an exaggeration to say they see no signs of
change or improvement. As Jennifer Clement, president of PEN Mexico, put
it on Sunday, words have been “reduced to rags to cover corpses.” That
doesn't mean the authorities are doing nothing. The Attorney-General's
Office received us with about 20 officials, including the Special
Prosecutor for Crimes Against Freedom of Expression, Gustavo Salas. Here
you see the intelligence and sophistication of the Mexican elite. This
situation of a virtual civil war is humiliating for them. They are
trying to reform a legal system that was designed for what Mario Vargas
Llosa called the perfect dictatorship – sequential dictators, each with a
six-year term. Since 2000, there has been a choice in presidential
elections and the legal structures are being slowly dragged into the
real world of transparency and responsibility. The special prosecutor
gave a formal recounting of what they were doing. But when you ask
simple questions – How many indictments? How many convictions? – the
answer is none or almost none. Why?
Because the legal pieces
aren't in place. We established this with a study done for PEN by the
University of Toronto's Law Faculty Human Rights Program. The special
prosecutor doesn't have the powers to do his job. The federal system
gets in the way. Much of the power lies in the states, many of which are
incapacitated by corruption. The federal judges could take over many
cases at the request of the federal government. They refuse. Why?
The
primary responsibility of the state is the well-being of citizens. And,
in this case, the state is not fulfilling its obligation.
These
issues of violence against freedom of expression can be dealt with only
through free expression. The public must understand and be engaged. Many
of Mexico's leaders and public servants are devoting their lives to
changing this situation, but they are uncomfortable with the idea of
rallying the public to the cause. They are embarrassed by their lack of
success so far.
And that raises another key problem. The Mexican
government is fixated on its war against organized crime. Good guys
against bad guys. This does not represent reality. When a serious part
of the state – elements of the police, the army, the state governments,
the political parties and so on – is corrupt, there can be no clear war.
The two sides are integrated in a way that can only block those who
want reform.
All countries, all systems, include a level of
corruption, including ours. But when that corruption rises beyond a
certain point, the state cannot function. Battling corruption works only
when it happens in full public light. This is integral to free
expression. That is why journalists are being killed in the states where
corruption is at its worst.
What you begin to see is just how complicated the situation is. But to hide behind this complexity makes the situation worse.
There's no magic bullet
The
president of the Senate, Jose Gonzalez, and key senators received us to
discuss the importance of passing a particular law that would give the
federal government key powers to deal with these crimes. The real point,
we keep saying, is that this law is just one step; but a key step. Pass
it and then apply pressure to ensure that it is enforced. There are no
magic bullets. But there are things that can be done.
On our last
day, there was a packed press conference and then a meeting with the
Minister of the Interior, Alejandro Poiré, the most powerful man in the
system. He hasn't been in the job long: His immediate predecessor died
in a helicopter accident, and his predecessor in a plane crash.
Mr.
Poiré, young, very intelligent, had been well briefed. In place of a
statistic/document-driven meeting, he sat down for an open discussion
and thanked us for our criticism. He said this helped to push the
issues.
He told us in detail how they are attempting to clean up
the police, and the next day he put out a positive press statement, just
as the Attorney-General's Office had.
Mexico is a country in
which the sophistication of the language, the complexity of the system
and the harsh reality of violence make it difficult to know what
progress looks like. They also have to deal with the effects of drug
use, organized crime and arms trafficking elsewhere in North America.
What
we know is this: The violence must stop, key laws must be passed
quickly, the special prosecutor and other justice officials need real
powers and real budgets and real support systems. After that, people can
be judged on whether they are doing their jobs. When it comes to
killing journalists, there is almost perfect impunity. People need to be
investigated, arrested, tried and, if guilty, imprisoned.
If the system is seen to be working, people will believe in it.
In
the meantime, freedom of expression has been dragged out of the silent
corners. Writers around the world are now reporting on this situation.
In recent days, there have been hundreds of reports in Mexico alone.
Free expression and the scandal of impunity have a good chance of
becoming election issues. And if people keep pushing, the Senate will
pass that key law.
Mexico's friends want this as much as our
Mexican friends in Mexico. The message is simple: The government must
bring an end to the violence. And the freedom of writers to write
without being killed is central to this.
John Ralston Saul is the president of PEN International.
It's tied for first place with Pakistan as the world's deadliest country for journalists
Mexican police make an arrest in the 'war
on drugs' that has also claimed dozens of journalists' lives.
Photograph: Henry Romero/Reuters
At the end of January I was at the Royal Courts of Justice to hear Jonathan Heawood, of English PEN, speak to the Leveson inquiry about the importance of a free press.
By Friday I had moved continents, going from the unseasonably warm grey
of an English winter to the unseasonably chill blue of a Mexican one. A
strange dislocation but, by the time my week was done, I realised how
strong is the thread joining its beginning to its end. Mexico
City is a grand old town. Its magnificent central square, the Zócalo,
built out of the destruction of an earlier civilisation, is sinking
slowly into the marshes from which it had once been claimed. A similar
process has now all but buried free expression: Mexico has the dubious
distinction of being tied for first place with Pakistan as the world's deadliest country for journalists.
In
Britain we worry about the chilling effect of the over-regulation of
the press: in Mexico they cut to the chase and shoot (or decapitate) the
messenger. Since 2000, 67 Mexican journalists have been killed – a
number that President Calderón's war on drugs has only helped to
increase. In 90% of these cases, no one has been prosecuted, never mind
convicted. Which is why I was there. I was part of a PEN International
delegation that, in collaboration with Mexican PEN,
aimed to draw worldwide attention to the culture of impunity that
silences not only the people who speak out, but the word itself.
The
trip turned out to be an eye-opener, revealing the way in which
competing drug cartels, inept or corrupt government, the police and
terrified media join together in the suppression of free expression. We
met politicians and prosecutors, writers and journalists, ambassadors
and NGOs, our visit culminating in a public event, "PEN Protesta",
where dozens of Mexican writers gave eloquent insight into their
country's malaise. The tone was set by one of the first speakers who,
paraphrasing Mandelstam, told us that "if you kill poets it means you
don't respect poetry but if you kill journalists you don't respect
society." Mexico, said another, is a country that "vomits blood"; a
third described it as "a magical country full of assassinated people and
no apparent assassins". It's a country where, according to one of
Mexico's pre-eminent writers, Elena Poniatowska, "reporters are hunted
like rabbits."
After the event, I was left with a lasting image of
the diminutive, red-clad Poniatowska. While we drank tequila from
champagne glasses, she posed for photographs with a lineup of members of
the Banda de Tlayacapan.
The band was a mixed bunch – women in poncho-topped long dresses, old
men and boys, their faces almost drowned by large brimmed hats – and
their sound that of strident Mexican brass, strangely slowed. "It's a
dirge," the novelist Jennifer Clement explained. "They play at funerals.
Seemed right, given we are holding a wake for free expression."
Mentions
of funerals were on many lips. Journalists spoke movingly about the
loss of their friends and colleagues and of a resulting powerlessness so
intense that all they could do was bury their dead. Mexico City itself
is relatively safe but at least once a week organisations that protect
journalists are asked to hide people from other parts of the country for
whom the threats have grown particularly serious. And not only are
journalists kidnapped: so are their stories. Airports are turned into
information black holes as stories disappear into them.
Asked
what could be done to help, the requests became eerily familiar:
journalists need training in their craft, various people told us, but
more than anything they need training in how to protect themselves.
Despite the appointment of a special prosecutor to protect journalists,
impunity continues almost completely unchallenged. Of the 55 indictments
brought by the special prosecutor to the federal courts, only five
cases have been allowed to proceed, and from these, not a single person
has yet been convicted. It's almost as bad for community radio
practitioners who act as the voice of social movements: they are
continually harassed or charged with using the airwaves without a
licence, and the law has been designed to prevent them from procuring
the advertising revenues that might make them even half solvent.
Clement,
who is also president of Mexican PEN, had kicked off PEN Protesta by
saying that "words are the rocks we throw at each other". By the end of
my trip I understood what she meant. For when it comes to the practice
of journalism, and to the prosecution of the murderers of journalists,
Mexico is caught in a series of interlocking catch-22s. The government
blames the deaths on organised crime. But, according to the London-based
free expression group Article 19,
up to 70% of aggressions against the media are government-inspired.
Most of these can be laid at the door of local and regional government,
about which the national government says it can do little. Added to
this, an inept or corrupted police force joins with a similarly
corrupted media to portray the murders as crimes of passion, which means
they are never properly investigated.
The big media corporations
often lead the charge in denigrating murdered journalists, even accusing
them of being linked to the same cartels they were trying to denounce.
This obliteration of a free press is not surprising: when a cartel
targets a town for take-over it first compromises the mayor with threats
or money and then it takes care of the police. Having taken control, it
cannot let the press talk about the extent of its corruption and so has
to move in on this, the third leg of the stool.
"There is silence
in our country," we were told, "and it is the silence of death." Yet
even now, courageous journalists risk speaking out. As I flew back to a
freezing London, I realised how brave they are and also how much my
visit reinforced my belief in the importance of a free press not just
for journalists but for a whole society.
• Gillian Slovo is the president of English PEN.
Source : The Guardian
---------------------------------------------o----------------------------- News
The sobering truth about freedom of expression in Mexico: the killings continue and impunity reigns
UTLaw's Renu Mandhane, far right, first in the second row, attended PEN Protesta! in Mexico City.
By Renu Mandhane, director, International Human Rights Program (IHRP)
(Feb. 1, 2012) Yesterday, I arrived home from a week in one of Latin
America’s truly great capitals: Mexico City. While there, I had a
chance to visit marvelous museums, eat fantastic food and develop a love
for “tequila blanco” with a “sangrita” (“little blood”) chaser. I
also had the chance to chat with diplomats, illustrious writers, and a
former governor general of Canada. However, the real reason I was in
Mexico was sobering: Mexico is one of the deadliest places in the world
to practice freedom of expression. Because in the midst of Mexico’s war
on drugs, journalists are being caught in the cross-fire.
Since 2000, more than 70 journalists have been killed and 12 have
disappeared, with countless more threatened and harassed. Media outlets
as well have been frequently attacked with explosives and firearms.
Despite this dire situation, impunity reigns: crimes against freedom of
expression are not properly investigated and authorities have failed to
successfully prosecute more than 90 percent of cases. These findings
are outlined in last year’s IHRP-PEN Canada report Corruption, Impunity Silence: The War on Mexico’s Journalists. The
report was written by two IHRP clinic students, Cara Gibbons and Beth
Spratt, who travelled to Mexico City in October 2010. And, despite a
lot of hot air from the Mexican government since the report’s
publication, the situation remains largely the same. In the past nine
months, four more journalists have been found dead.
Recognizing the dire situation, PEN International sent an unprecedented
delegation last month to show solidarity with Mexican journalists, and
cast international attention on the issue. I was honoured to be asked
to join the delegation, as the sole lawyer and an expert on the issues.
Along with Jennifer Clement of Mexico PEN, the delegation included
John Ralston Saul, PEN president, former journalist and
governor-general of Canada Adrienne Clarkson, Russell Banks (author of The Sweet Hereafter), Gillian Slovo (president, UK PEN) and Larry Siems (author of The Torture Report) amongst others.
John Ralston Saul speaks with President of the Senate, Senator José González Morfín
The mission included two public actions to show solidarity with Mexican journalists. On January 27th, an open letter
signed by 170 of the world’s leading authors, including Margret Atwood,
Salman Rushdie, Toni Morrison and others appeared as a full-page ad in
El Universal, one of Mexico’s leading papers. “We stand with
you and all Mexican citizens who are calling out for the killing, the
impunity, the intimidation to stop,” the writers declared. “You have an
absolute right to life and a guaranteed right to practice your
profession without fear.” The powerful message was reported on
countless Spanish-language news sources, as well as by CBS, ABC, The Washington Post, BBC, and The Guardian.
On January 29th, journalists working in some of the country’s
most dangerous cities spoke of their experiences at PEN Protesta!, a
remarkable event where frontline reporters stood side-by-side with the
PEN delegation and many of Mexico’s most prominent writers to demand an
end to the killings. In all, more than 50 writers and journalists read
short statements that alternated between harrowing first-hand accounts
of deadly threats and declarations of outrage and horror. In my statement on behalf of the IHRP,
I emphasized Mexico’s responsibilities under international law to
protect communicators regardless of the source of threats and violence.
The protest was covered by local and international media, including CNN
and the Los Angeles Times. I was interviewed by CBS Radio for a feature that will be airing in the coming weeks.
After meeting with our delegation, the US Ambassador issued a press release
wherein he announced a US$5 million initiative over four years to
“provide support for Mexican efforts to strengthen the capacity to
protect journalists.” We also had the opportunity to meet with key
public officials including Marcelo Ebrard, the mayor of Mexico City: Gustavo Salas, the special prosecutor for crimes against freedom of expression; Jose Gonzalez Morfin, president of the Senate; and Alejandro Poiré Romero, minister of the interior.
Without exception, the meetings with Mexican government officials
contained the same tired refrains regarding the lack of federal
jurisdiction to act, and blame-shifting to the drug cartels. In one
particularly memorable exchange, the special prosecutor boasted that he
filed 55 indictments related to crimes against journalists in 2011.
When I proceeded to cross-examine him on the numbers, he admitted that
50 of the indictments were thrown out by federal judges due to lack of
jurisdiction, and that in the remaining five cases have not resulted in
convictions. In this moment, I realized the enormity of the problem:
where complete impunity reigns, the violence will not stop.
Still, we did manage to wrest some key “wins” from policy makers. The
special prosecutor assured us that his office would interpret broadly
“journalist” to include all communicators including bloggers and
community radio announcers. This was a point of some confusion amongst
NGOs, and the special prosecutor reiterated this position publicly in a
press release issued after our meeting.
The interior minister, arguably the second most powerful man in Mexico
after the president and the “face” of the war on drugs, provided us with
further details regarding the Committee to Protect Journalists which
was set up in 2010. In particular, he provided us with a copy of the
procedural guide for accessing the protection mechanism, which thus far
NGOs had been unable to access. The minister also confirmed that there
would be significant resources (approximately US$2 million) available
for the protection of journalists during this calendar year.
Despite these modest wins, there were no assurances received in relation
to our main demand: that the government ensure crimes against freedom
of expression are investigated, prosecuted, and punished entirely by
federal authorities. “Federalization” is essential to ending impunity
since state and local authorities are often paid-off by drug cartels
such that no prosecutions take place. Though the president of the
Senate was repeatedly pressed by the delegation to commit to passing
2009 legislation that would federalize crimes against freedom of
expression, he made no promises. It will remain to be seen whether the
Calderon government passes this law prior to the federal election this
summer.
In the end, while pressure from the international community is
much-needed, change will likely only come when the Mexican people
themselves demand it. For our part, the IHRP looks forward to
continuing to work with PEN International and Mexican NGOs to ensure
that this issue remains on the agenda within Mexico and with its major
trading partners: Canada, the United States, and the European Union.
21 February.
Today marks International Mother Language Day, a day which recognizes
the importance of linguistic and cultural diversity and promotes the
protection of languages. Celebrated since 2000, the theme of the day
this year is ‘Mother tongue instruction and inclusive education.’
The reasons for the International Mother Language Day are clear.
Language plays a vital role in relation to identity, communication,
social integration, education and development. It is estimated that,
without measures to protect and promote minority and endangered
languages, half of the 6000 plus languages spoken today will disappear
by the end of this century, with 96 percent of these languages spoken by
a mere 4 percent of the world’s population. 29 percent of the world’s
languages are in danger, with a further 10 percent vulnerable, according
to UNESCO. This year’s theme refers to the importance of language in
accessing quality education and encourages UNESCO member states to
promote instruction and education in the mother tongue.
International Mother Language Day originated to recognize the
language movement day in Bangladesh, which has been commemorated in
Bangladesh since 1952 to remember students’ struggle for the right to
use their mother language. The day was declared by the General
Conference of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) on November 1999.
PEN International has been at the forefront of the campaign to ensure the protection and promotion of linguistic diversity. The Girona Manifesto,
a tool to aid the dissemination and implementation of the Universal
Declaration on Linguistic Rights (UDLR), was developed by PEN
International’s Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee
in May 2011, fifteen years after leading a coalition of civil-society
and international organisations (including UNESCO) developed the UDLR at
the 1996 World Conference on Linguistic Rights in Barcelona.
For more information see the UNESCO International Mother Language Day page here. See the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in danger here.
To read more about the Girona Manifesto and to read the document in over 30 languages click here or
visit the ‘In Focus’ section on the Girona Manifesto (left). We
encourage PEN Centres to translate the Manifesto into their own
language(s) – please contact Ruth at penoffice@pen-international.org for more information.
International Mother Language Day, 21 February 2012
International
Mother Language Day has been celebrated every year since February 2000
to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. This
year the theme of the International Mother Language day is “Mother
tongue instruction andinclusive education”. UNESCO highlights the importance of mother tongue as part of the right to education and encourages its member states to promote instruction and education in the mother tongue.
Linguistic and cultural diversity represent
universal values that strengthen the unity and cohesion of societies.
The recognition of the importance of linguistic diversity led to
UNESCO’s decision to celebrate International Mother Language Day.
When was it launched?
The 30th session of the General Conference of
UNESCO in 1999 decided that the Organization would launch and observe an
International Mother Language Day on 21 February every year throughout
the world.
What does it celebrate?
International Mother Language Day’s objective is
to promote linguistic diversity and multilingual education, and to
develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions based on
understanding, tolerance and dialogue.
Who is involved?
UNESCO’s Director-General launches the
celebration and gives the orientation, but it is the Member States
worldwide who are the key players through their national institutions
and associations. As well as widespread media interest, schools,
universities and cultural associations play an active part in promoting
the goals of International Mother Language Day.
What can you do?
Some practical suggestions for:
Schoolteachers:
Do pupils know
that many children in their schools may have mother language(s) that are
different from the languages used in their schools?
Teachers
can get these children to introduce themselves and talk about their
families and their cultures, and teach a little of their mother language
to other children.
They can read poetry, tell a story or sing a
song in their mother language. Paintings and drawings with captions in
mother languages can be displayed inside and outside schools.
University students:
They
may know that their fellow students come from a different culture and
use a different language but they don’t take the time to find out more.
This is the opportunity to do so.
They can make a survey on
mother languages existing on the campus by interviewing fellow students
and publish the results on internet.
Cultural activities such as films, plays and music that celebrate different languages can be organized.
The media:
Every year UNESCO produces press information about the Day.
Local and national media can play a part by producing articles on the local languages spoken in their regions and the cultural
The (M)Other Tongue: Broadcasts on bilingual education today
Speaking
one’s mother language is a right that not everyone can take for
granted, especially in places where local, mother tongues are threatened
by more dominant languages. Today, bilingual education programmes
worldwide illustrate how discussions about “mother languages” must
include the “other languages”. SOAS Radio, UNESCO’s
partner from the University of London’s School of Oriental &
African Studies provides global perspectives on the debate.
Nominate your favourite piece of women’s writing for International Women’s Day – 8th March
In celebration of International Women’s Day (8th March) and PEN’s
90th anniversary, PEN International asks PEN members to nominate one
piece of writing by a woman that has moved them, made a deep impression,
or that they greatly admire. Nominations will be featured on our site
as a tapestry of recommendations in recognition of literary achievements
by women. Nominations may include women’s writing of any form,
including poetry, essays, novels, short stories and speeches. Please
email nominations to communications@pen-international.org
stating your name, your PEN Centre, the writer and title of the text
you are nominating, and a brief sentence explaining why you have chosen
this piece of writing. Deadline for nominations 29th February.
And on International Women’s Day 8th March follow #womenwriters when
@pen_int will be featuring quotes and news on women writers.
No Room At The Table: Making Inclusion a Reality for Black British Writers
with Courttia Newland, Jonathan Heawood and Joy Francis
What are the barriers for black British writers working today? Why is it
that not enough black British writers are being published? Are
literature festivals celebrating the diversity of writers in the UK
enough? What is the free speech issue here? What’s the role English PEN
can play to support all writers in the UK?
For this and more, join us for the latest Free Speech Café, where the hottest issues of the day are discussed and debated. We are delighted to partner up with Words of Colour Productions for this event.
Book Now!
English PEN
Free Speech Café Thursday 1 March, 6.30pm
Free Word
60 Farringdon Road
London EC1R 3GA
Tickets: £2, in advance or on the door BOOK YOUR TICKET English PEN also supports...
A Cinema Masterclass with Claude Lanzmann at the Institut Francais
Claude Lanzmann, director of the landmark film Shoah, has played a unique role in France's intellectual scene throughout his life. His memoir The Patagonian Hare(translated
from the French by Frank Wynne) has been a phenomenal success in France
and has been translated into ten languages. The book will be published
in English next month by Atlantic, supported by a grant from English PEN's Writers in Translation Programme. To co-incide with the release of the book, Lanzmann has agreed to take part in a unique masterclass dedicated to his cinematographic work, illustrated with film clips. His appearance at Jewish Book Week
has already sold out, so don't miss the chance to hear Lanzmann speak
about his inspirational lifetime achievements, passions and commitments! Claude Lanzmann will be in conversation with Michael Etherton (UK Jewish Film).
Book Now
Cinema Masterclass with Claude Lanzmann
8pm, Monday 20 February
Institut Francais
Price: £12 / concessions £10 / students £5 Book Online.
‘Free Speech and Literature’ night class begins 28 February
As Salman Rushdie is prevented from attending the Jaipur
Literary Festival, Shakespeare is banned in Arizona schools, and Chinese
poet Zhu Yufu is sentenced to seven years imprisonment for writing a
poem... English PEN launches its latest series of night classes on
literature and censorship.
Free Speech and Literature, a collaboration with the Bishopsgate Institute,
considers some of the best known and most dramatic challenges to free
speech: attacks on poems, plays and novels. Attendees will consider how
creative freedom operates for different audiences and spaces, and will
have the opportunity to experiment with creative as well as critical
responses to the literature. Guest speakers will guide course-goers
through the current threats to creative freedom and new opportunities to
expand the space for free speech.
The six week course costs £89 (£67 concessions) and begins on Tuesday 28th February. You can book your place on the course via the Bishopsgate Institute website or by calling 020 7392 9200.
"The history of banning, burning and bowdlerising books ... is also the
history of their survival: the censor’s power is often terrible, but
not final. It can also remind us to treasure the power of the word,
which will always outwit the censor who invests it with power by their
censorship."
Jonathan Heawood, Director of English PEN, says:
"In many respects, the history of literature and the history of free
speech are one and the same, and the willingness of those in authority
to censor poems, plays and novels shows just how powerful they are. We
are delighted to be running this course with the Bishopsgate Institute
once again, giving attendees an opportunity to engage deeply with these
essential literary issues."
