PEN Critiques US-Africa Leaders’ Summit

PEN believes the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit, ending today in Washington, is an important moment in the promotion of US engagement on the continent.

However, the development of US-African trade relations must be paralleled by support for the cementing and extension of universal free expression norms, including the protection of writers and journalists from harassment and persecution.

PEN notes with concern the involvement in the meeting of several leaders whose administrations have been marred by serious rights abuses and efforts to stymie and suppress free expression, and a lack of attention to these issues in the summit itself.

PEN Nigeria President Tade Ipadeola, noting that most trade on the continent is conducted in non-native languages, comments: “There is a saying in southern Nigeria that a people who trade in a foreign tongue will always struggle not to be short-changed. Beyond profit is the cultural capital which every human language embodies and which is our duty to preserve and protect.”

“Over the past year, we have seen a worrying rise in impunity for officials, with the persecution of Zone 9 bloggers in Ethiopia, and the sentencing in Swaziland of editor Bheki Makhubu and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko to two years in prison for libel,” South Africa PEN President Margie Orford said.

“We are also worried that draconian LGBT laws throughout the continent are being used to stifle diversity and critical voices,” she said.

PEN Nigeria
PEN South Africa
PEN American Center