Index on Censorship, along with English PEN, Article 19 and others, have moved to the Free Word Centre in central London. Over at Liberty Central, Ursula Owen explains the thinking behind the project:
Free Word’s mission is to promote the power of the written and spoken word, and to protect creativity and free expression generally. What makes it different from the many literature houses all over Europe is that its core principle is free expression and literacy –– which immediately makes its outlook international and political (not always seen as a palatable word in the arts). The ideas behind it were thrashed out by the eight founder members over five years. They are now resident in the building. Free Word is a venue, an office space, a thinking space, where media meets literature. In its theatre and meeting rooms you will hear familiar and unknown voices, the expected and the unexpected, debate and controversy.
Read the rest here
One Comment
Dear Ursula
Iapplaud the aims and objectives of the FREE WORD CENTRE. We are desperately concerned to understand the reasons why there has been almost no reportage of the brutal “pogrom” at Ashraf in July, the continuing detention of the 36 Iranian refugee dissident hostages and the continuing threat to deport the 3,400 PMOI to IRAN to certain torture and death. Even the plight of the hunger strikers, now in their 62nd day and some near death who have been rallying outside the US Embassy in London has been barely reported; Hardly a journalist turns up for the regular press conferences; neither the BBC nor ITV channels will air this serious and urgent humanitarian issue in spite of calls from eminent lawyers, Lords Corbett and Carlile and Amnesty to the UK gov and the US that they abide by their obligations under the Geneva Conventions
WHO IS CENSORING ALL ATTEMPTS TO TELL THE WORLD ABOUT THIS ISSUE? i am assured by the Guardian that there has been no pressure from the FCO but even the Bindman article appeared not in the daily paper but only on the website. Why oh Why? We are all trying desperately to get news coverage so that the US and the UK will retain their obligaion to protect the people of Camp Ashraf, go into the camp and monitor and safe guard it until the UN AMI and OHCR can send in a permanent team. The hostages are wounded, some are still with bullets in their bodies. Three times the Iraqi criminal court in Al Khalass has ruled that their detention is unlawful and they must be released. but even martin chulov the guadian chap in Iraq refuses to write about Ashraf . Are we still appeasing Iran? Why the silence? Who is behind it? The PMOI no longer are terror tagged and the Geneva Convention still applies.
please pass this on to Index on Censorship
thank you