Erin O’Brien /
PEN America /
New York, NY /
In my continued work at PEN America and in working with and covering protests in NYC, one central theme has become increasingly clear: COVID-19 has provided governments and authorities around the world the perfect opportunity to limit free expression, to silence dissent, and to mistreat political prisoners (many of whom are jailed for their words and writing).
In Iran, for example, Narges Mohammadi has contracted COVID-19 but has not been allowed access to medical care, and she has a range of pre-existing conditions that have been well documented. In Turkey, vast numbers of trials for “terrorist propaganda cases,” such as the one against Osman Kavala, or against Ahmet Altan in June, have been stayed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and while many prisoners have been released due to pandemic risk, those arrested for “terrorist propaganda” (many of whom are elderly or frail) remain behind bars. In the United States, prison populations are being ravaged at a shocking rate; by the end of June, eight of the top ten coronavirus hotspots in the country were in prisons or jails, and at its highest point, around 10% of people in New York DOC custody had coronavirus.
In my work, this has revealed something I have known but which has rarely been so readily apparent: crises like the coronavirus pandemic impact the discriminatory and authoritarian systems already in place in society and exacerbate their effects. In this moment where free expression and dissent is being targeted, and with political figures like Trump, Erdogan, and Putin, COVID-19 has enabled certain governments to further crack down on and silence their opponents. COVID-19 has given authoritarian leaders around the world the opportunity to further expand and centralize their rule.
In the United States, where prisons are essential for maintaining centuries-old white supremacist systems and hierarchies, COVID-19 has disproportionately targeted incarcerated systems. And when a New York Times study indicated that Black and Latinx populations in the United States are more than three times likely to contract COVID-19, it becomes unavoidably clear that this virus, which should be “equal opportunity” in its spread and which has no scientific link to race, is acting on the racist systems and infrastructures that buttress this country.
Going forward, my work with PEN will primarily focus on identifying new cases to advocate for in the coming year. There is no doubt that much of these will involve writers who are at risk of contracting COVID-19 in prison or who have been imprisoned for reporting on the pandemic, such as in China. While the everyday work of writing about and advocating for these writers can be despairing, I am very glad I can be a part of it.