Fiction that Matters

penamerican:

Come join freeDimensional on Friday for a fantastic event with Cameroonian artist Issa Nyaphaga.

A comic protesting the trial of editor of Waheen newspaper, Mohamud Abdi Jama, who is accused of defamation for publishing articles alleging corruption by government officials in Somaliland.

After determining that Somaliland law did not hold punishments for journalists, the court invoked Sharia law.

Read more about press freedom in Somaliland here.

penamerican:

Jean-Euphele Milcé (Haiti), Emmélie Prophete (Haiti), Siphiwo Mahala (South African), and Deji Olukotun (USA / PEN American Center) at the PEN Literary Gala at the Museum of Natural History.

photo © Beowulf Sheehan / PEN American Center

Frida by Senegalese photographer Omar Viktor Diop shot in Abidjan.

We can’t get enough of Omar Victor Dioptoday

Senegal

(via mujeristaxicana)

penamerican:

‘Hear me roar’: Women journalists claim their voice in the Great Lakes

On March 8th, Search launched its “Media: A Voice for All” initiative in Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The project will extend to the Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo in the near future.

The program has two objectives:

1. Increase the number of female journalists in the Great Lakes region of Africa

2. Improve gender-sensitivity in media coverage, especially on women’s issues

To reach these goals, Search is partnering with local women’s media associations in each country. The program will provide training sessions, capacity building instruction, innovation grants, sensitization activities, and networking development.

penamerican:

Paris-based collective records music video to support Cameroonian writer, poet, and politician Enoh Meyomesse, who is currently serving 7 years in prison.

Click here to read an interactive timeline or click here to send an e-letter to Cameroonian authorities.

penamerican:

Five Questions with Patrice Nganang, Cameroonian author, poet, and human rights defender

Author, poet, and professor Patrice Nganang has been one of the foremost advocates on behalf of PEN Honorary Member Enoh Meyomesse, a writer and politician who was sentenced in December 2012 to seven years in prison. (Click here to view an interactive timeline about Enoh Meyomesse or click here to send an e-letter to the government of Cameroon.) We connected with Patrice over email to find out more about his work.

1. Why is the case of Enoh Meyomesse important in Cameroon?

Every case of a human rights violation is important. The principle is simple. In a republic, every citizen is in danger when an innocent person is in prison. As for Enoh, his capture, torture, incarceration, and sentencing are an epitome of how free-thinking citizens are treated in Cameroon today. Enoh Meyomesse was a writer and a presidential candidate who was rounded up on his return from a trip abroad while his house was ransacked at the same time. He was kept in solitary confinement for a month, and then thrown in jail and sentenced to seven years in prison, without any accuser, without anybody testifying against him, without any proof of his wrongdoing, and then sentenced by a military tribunal even though he is a civilian. One has to imagine a country in which such a thing can happen while the president of Cameroon declares in Paris, in front of the international press, that there are no human rights violations in Cameroon, and claims that the country is the freest on earth. Enoh Meyomesse’s case reminds us how rotten the political system is in Cameroon and the cost of a lack of international news about the country, or about French-speaking African countries for that matter, and why people awake only when a country like Mali collapses.

Read more

penamerican:

PEN Launches Interactive Timeline to press for release of new Honorary Member Enoh Meyomesse.

Click here to learn the story of Enoh Meyomesse and take action.

Internet Sans Frontieres launches campaign to free Cameroonian writer Enoh Meyomesse

Le président Camerounais Paul Biya fera une visite officielle en France le 30 janvier 2013. Il rencontrera à cette occasion le Président Français François Hollande. Internet Sans Frontières et PEN International lancent un appel au Président Paul Biya en faveur de la libération du blogueur et écrivain camerounais Enoh Meyomesse. La détention arbitraire de cet activiste en ligne et écrivain le plus parmi les plus prolifiques de son pays depuis 14 mois et son procès par une cour militaire du Cameroun ont été caractérisés par un déni total de son droit à une défense et à un procès équitables.