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中国狱中七位笔会作家之一的著名文学评论家兼活动家
刘晓波获笔会最高荣誉
（2008年4月16日纽约讯）美国笔会今天宣布，中国最杰出的异议作家兼活动家、国际笔会运动重要领导人物刘晓波，为2009年笔会暨芭芭拉·戈德史密斯自由写作奖得主。刘晓波因合写了一份关于政治和人权改革的呼吁书，于 2008年12月8日被关押，未予诉罪或审判而“监视居住”在北京一未知地点。
“让我们大家生活有意义的自由，一直总依赖于，唉，那些像刘晓波一样愿意把自己的自由置于险境的人。”美国笔会会长克瓦米·安东尼·阿皮亚说，“刘晓波为中国民主事业的一贯自我牺牲，应该激励世界各地所有自由的朋友们。每当我读到有关他所做的那些不寻常的事，我充满钦佩，事实上还有崇敬。”
此奖授予因行使或维护言论自由权而遭迫害或监禁的国际文学人士，将于2008年4月28日在纽约市美国自然历史博物馆举行的笔会文学庆典上颁发，杰出作家兼历史学家、笔会会员芭芭拉·戈德史密斯将到会监奖。
刘晓波是一位知识分子和文学评论家，曾任教于北京师范大学，以及中国境外的奥斯陆大学、夏威夷大学、纽约市的哥伦比亚大学等。1989年春，刘晓波离开了哥伦比亚大学回到北京，在遍起的民主运动中起到重要作用，到天安门广场进行绝食支持学生，并带头呼吁一个真正具有广泛基础的可持续的民主运动。他通过支持和推动呼吁学生非暴力，防止了广场上更进一步的流血。他为此系狱两年，1996年又因公开质疑一党专制和呼吁中国政府与西藏达赖喇嘛对话而被 “劳教” 三年。2004年，在他发表文章批评当局用“颠覆”罪名使记者和活动人士禁声后，他电话和联网一度被卡断，数年来一直是警方的经常监视和骚扰的目标。
2008年12月8日，刘晓波以涉嫌“煽动颠覆国家政权”被拘捕。拘捕发生在《零八宪章》公布的前夕，这份他合写的不寻常的声明呼吁政治改革、更多人权和终止一党专制。警方于晚上9时到达他家， 11时将其拘禁，并抄家没收了电脑和其他物品。自他被拘押以来，几乎所有《零八宪章》首批签署者都遭到传讯，以收集对付他的证据。尽管有这种打压，《零八宪章》目前已经得到中国各地超过8500各界人士联署。
除写作和政治活动外，刘晓波一直是独立中文笔会的领导人。独立中文笔会是一个在中国勇敢进行脚踏实地倡导工作的国际文学和人权组织，尽管遭到中国当局持续打压。刘晓波在2003-2007年担任该会会长，现任理事。自2001年建会以来，独立中文笔会的会议一直遭到当局的干扰和取消，其工作人员和会员经常受监视，有些已被拘押并盘问该会活动。由于该会已成为中国言论自由的重要声音，近两年处于中国当局日益增加的压力之下。该会七位会员目前系狱，都与他们的写作有关。
美国笔会自由写作和国际项目主任拉里·赛姆斯，今天在纽约宣布此奖时赞扬刘晓波“对暴政的无情抨击，对理性自由的勇敢承诺，愿以自己的自由风险来维护和扩大中国的自由写作。” 赛姆斯还敦促奥巴马政府积极争取刘晓波的释放，以澄清对中国人权问题的立场。“中国国际优势的一个令人不安的特点，就是它与其他侵犯人权的各国当局一直达成默契，为换取优惠的商业关系而对人权侵犯视而不见。在世界各地，那些正在挑战暴政的男女人士正在寻求保障，他们的命运，以及他们国家的命运，取决于比底线更多的东西。失于在刘晓波受监禁的问题上挑战中国政府，就是在国际上听任那些世界各地进步与改变的和平倡导者们处在巨大危险中。”
今年是笔会暨芭芭拉·戈德史密斯自由写作奖荣授予因行使或维护言论自由权而遭迫害或监禁的国际文学人士的第23年，候选人由国际笔会及其全球的任何145个分会之一提名，由美国笔会和由此领域最杰出的专家组成的顾问委员会筛选。笔会暨芭芭拉·戈德史密斯自由写作奖顾问委员会包括：人权观察副主任卡罗尔·博格特（Carroll Bogert），卡内基基金会总裁瓦坦·格雷戈里恩（Vartan Gregorian），国际笔会副会长乔安尼·利多姆-阿克曼（Joanne Leedom-Ackerman），开放社会研究所主席阿莱 ·奈尔（Aryeh Neier），保护记者委员会执行主任乔尔‧西蒙﹝Joel Simon﹞。
自由写作奖是笔会全年支持目前正遭威胁或系狱超过1009位作家和新闻工作者的一项延伸。自1987年以来，44位男女人士已获此奖，34位在授奖时系狱的获奖者中，有31位随后获释。
美国笔会是国际笔会在全世界的145个分会之一。国际笔会致力推进世界各地作家间的友谊和理性合作，为言论自由奋斗，代表世界文学的良知。美国笔会和独立中文笔会一直共同合作，抗议中国当局对作家和新闻工作者的监禁、骚扰、监控，致力于结束中国对互联网的监控和对自由写作的种种限制。更多信息请访问：www.pen.org/china.
联系人： 美国笔会拉里·赛姆斯（Larry Siems），(212) 334-1660 ext. 111, lsiems@pen.org
（独立中文笔会翻译）
For Immediate Release
For more information contact:
Larry Siems, (212) 334-1660 ext. 105 (office), (646) 359-0594 (mobile), lsiems@pen.org
Liu Xiaobo to Receive Top PEN Honor
Renowned Literary Critic and Activist is One of Seven PEN Writers in Jail in China
New York City, April 16, 2009—PEN American Center today named Liu Xiaobo, one of China’s preeminent dissident writers and activists and a leading figure in the PEN movement internationally as the recipient of its 2009 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. Liu, who was detained on December 8, 2008 for co-authoring a petition for political and human rights reforms, is being held without charge or trial under “residential surveillance” at an unknown location in Beijing.
“The liberties that allow all of us to make meaningful lives have always depended, alas, on those who are willing, like Liu Xiaobo, to put their own freedom at risk,” said K. Anthony Appiah, President of PEN American Center. “His consistent self-sacrifice for the cause of democracy in China should inspire all freedom’s friends around the world. I am filled with admiration—indeed, with awe—each time I read about the extraordinary things he has done.”
The award, which honors international literary figures who have been persecuted or imprisoned for exercising or defending the right to freedom of expression, will be presented at PEN’s Annual Gala on April 28, 2009 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Distinguished writer, historian, and PEN member Barbara Goldsmith underwrites the award.
Liu Xiaobo is an intellectual and literary critic who has taught at Beijing Normal University and a number of universities outside of China, including University of Oslo, the University of Hawaii, and Columbia University in New York City. In the spring of 1989, Liu left his post at Columbia and returned to Beijing to play a crucial role in the spreading pro-democracy movement, staging a hunger strike in Tiananmen Square in support of the students and leading calls for a truly broad-based, sustainable democratic movement. He was instrumental in preventing even further bloodshed in the Square by supporting and advancing a call for non-violence on the part of the students. He spent two years in prison for his role, and another three years of “reeducation through labor” in 1996 for publicly questioning the role of the single-party system and calling for dialogue between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama of Tibet. In 2004, his phone lines and Internet connection were cut after the release of his essay criticizing the use of “subversion” charges used to silence journalists and activists, and he has been the target of regular police surveillance and harassment in the years since.
On December 8, 2008, Liu Xiaobo was arrested on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.” The arrest came on the eve of the release of Charter 08, an extraordinary declaration that Liu had co-authored calling for political reform, greater human rights, and an end to one-party rule in China. Police arrived at his home just after 9:00 p.m., and at 11:00 p.m., they took him into custody and searched his home, confiscating computers and other materials. Since his arrest, nearly all of the original signatories of Charter 08 have been interrogated in a push to gather evidence on Liu. Despite this crackdown, the document has now been signed by more than 8,500 people from all walks of life throughout China.
In addition to his writings and political activism, Liu Xiaobo has been a leading figure in the Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC), a center of the international literary and human rights organization that is doing courageous, on-the-ground advocacy work in China despite constant pressure from Chinese authorities. Liu served as President of ICPC from 2003 to 2007 and currently holds a seat on its Board. Since ICPC was formed in 2001, it has had meetings interrupted and canceled by authorities, its officers and members are regularly surveilled, and several have been detained and questioned about the center’s activities. As ICPC has emerged as an important voice for freedom of expression in China, it has come under increased pressure in the last two years. Seven of its members are now in prison in connection with their writings.
In announcing the award today in New York, Freedom to Write Program Director Larry Siems praised Liu’s “unsparing critical attacks on tyranny, his courageous commitment to intellectual freedom, and his willingness to risk his own freedom to defend and expand the freedom to write in China.” Siems also urged the Obama administration to clarify its position on human rights in China by pressing aggressively for Liu Xiaobo’s release. “A troubling feature of China’s ascendance internationally has been its implicit agreement with other rights-abusing regimes that it will turn a blind eye to human rights violations in exchange for preferred commercial relations. Throughout the world, men and women who are challenging tyranny are looking for assurances that their fate, and the fate of their countries, depends on something more than the bottom line. To fail to challenge the Chinese government on Liu Xiaobo’s imprisonment is to concede this argument internationally, at enormous peril to peaceful advocates of progress and change around the world.”
This is the 23rd year that the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award has honored an international literary figure who has been persecuted or imprisoned for exercising or defending the right to freedom of expression. Candidates are nominated by International PEN and any of its 145 constituent PEN centers around the world, and screened by PEN American Center and an Advisory Board comprising some of the most distinguished experts in the field. The Advisory Board for the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award includes Carroll Bogert, Associate Director of Human Rights Watch; Vartan Gregorian, President of the Carnegie Corporation; Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, International Vice-President of International PEN; Aryeh Neier, President of the Open Society Institute; and Joel Simon, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The Freedom to Write Award is an extension of PEN’s year-round advocacy on behalf of the more than 1,009 writers and journalists who are currently threatened or in prison. Forty-four women and men have received the award since 1987; 31 of the 34 honorees who were in prison at the time they were honored were subsequently released.
PEN American Center is among the 145 worldwide centers of International PEN, an organization that works to promote friendship and intellectual cooperation among writers everywhere, to fight for freedom of expression, and represent the conscience of world literature. It has been working together with the Independent Chinese PEN Center to protest China’s imprisonment, harassment, and surveillance of writers and journalists and to seek an end to Internet censorship and other restrictions on the freedom to write in that country. For more information, please visit www.pen.org/china.
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