(New York, June 30, 2000) — Human Rights Watch today announced a diverse group of writers from
22 countries to receive grants recognizing their courage in the face of political persecution.
Many, like Taoufik Ben Brik of Tunisia, Mamadali Makhmudov of Uzbekistan, and Nadire Mater of Turkey, were jailed for writings that offended the government. Some have been forced into exile; Jonah Anguka (Kenya), Kadhi-Joni Mahdi (Iraq), and Alejandra Matus (Chile), have received asylum in the United States. Others are victims of bloody conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Hellman/Hammett grants are given annually by Human Rights Watch to writers around the world who have been targets of political persecution. The grant program began in 1989 when the estates of American authors Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett asked Human Rights Watch to design a program for writers in financial need as a result of expressing their views. This year's grants totaled $170,000.
In many countries, governments use military and presidential decrees, criminal libel, and colonial-era sedition laws to silence critics. Writers and journalists are often threatened, harassed, assaulted, or thrown into jail merely for providing information from nongovernmental sources. As a result, in addition to those who are directly targeted, many others are forced to practice self-censorship.
