Surf these sites: Akin Birdal -- Adopted as "prisoner of conscience" by Amnesty International, Mr. Birdal was jailed for telling the truth, and that was after Turkish right wing officials tried to kill him. Authorities challenged -- Amnesty International on how Turkish authorities enabled the attempted assassination of Akin Birdal (whose only acts were humanitarian). Mr. Birdal spoke and is in jail as of 1999. China "hides" Gao Yu -- Gao Yu, a journalist who has been detained since October 1993 for "leaking state secrets," was transferred to an unknown place from Yanqing prison, near Beijing. She is not well and is to be released next year but now no one knows exactly where she is imprisoned. Freed, but -- Zafaryab Ahmed spoke up in Pakistan, was jailed and freed then allowed on temporary visa to U.S. After finishing his Human Rights Fellowhship at Colby (Maine) where is he? Kurdish Human Rights Report on Akin Birdal -- Weeks after the failed assassination of Mr. Birdal he was jailed on allegations of inciting hostilities in Turkey. Photo shows him in critical care bed after six gunshot wounds to his chest, May 15, 1998 Lin Hai and Wang Youcai -- Two Chinese activists used the internet to get their words and ideas across to fellow citizens. Lin Hai and Wang Youcai are jailed as of March, 1999. Lori Berenson jailed in Peru -- Site dedicated to US citizen Lori Berenson jailed on charges of treason against Perú in a harsh Yanamayo Prison high in the Andes. U.N. study of three years finds she was deprived of liberty arbitrarily. Mexico: Bacilio Is Detained -- Just months after speaking up on human rights and free speech issues in Mexico, Dr. Bacilio Gomez was arrested by Mexican authorities. Namibian Government ministry imposes news blackout -- On 14 December 1998, the Namibian minister of defence, Erikki Nghimtina, instructed his ministry to withhold any news and information about the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from the "Namibian" newspaper. Or worse -- Writer-journalist Mohamad Mokhtari disappears in Tehran. In 1994, he was one of 134 intellectuals who signed a manifesto demanding freedom of speech in Iran. Or worse yet -- Another missing Iranian writer dead under suspicious circumstances. A prominent free speech advocate, Makhtari was seen alive on 3 December, going to a local shop. He had been arrested with five other writers weeks earlier and charged with organising "an underground political group," just for holding informal gatherings of writers. Peru: Publisher of "Chimbote Daily" sentenced -- The journalists called it a grave attack on the press - the case arose from personal and institutional desires for reprisal against the critical editorial stance of the paper. Witch Hunting -- Margo Burn''s educational site expounds on Arthur Miller''s "The Crucible" and other examples of societies that blocked free speech and jailed people for unpopular views. Excellent starting place for artistic approaches to free speech.
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