“打破沉默，奥运前夕为被囚中国作家发声”在纽约反响热烈

8月7日晚，由美国笔会和独立中文笔会共同举办的 “打破沉默，奥运前夕为被囚中国作家发声”大型活动如期在纽约举行。据活动负责人Larry Siems介绍，活动从晚上7点零5分进行到8点30分，举办地Tishman礼堂爆满，大约有400人参加了这一活动，而且非常受感动。美国作家Edward Albee、Russell Banks、Philip Gourevitch、Jessica Hagedorn、Hari Kunzru、Rick Moody、Martha Southgate、美国笔会主席Francine Prose、独立中文笔会成员陈破空、李江琳以及年轻的西藏学生Chime Dolme朗诵了部分中国被囚作家的翻译作品并做了演讲。
 
Larry Siems表示，昨晚的活动想要传达这样一个讯息：中国的系狱作家不会在奥运会之后被遗忘，他们将始终与系狱作家们站在一起，为其获得自由不断抗争。
 
附：美国笔会新闻稿译文及原文。
 
打破沉默，奥运前夕为被囚中国作家发声
 
作家们宣誓被囚作家不会被遗忘
 
纽约、多伦多、斯德歌尔摩，2008年8月8日——笔会成员昨晚聚集在纽约朗诵了中国作家的被禁作品，包括之前未被翻译过的作家唯色、杨同彦的作品，其他著名异议人士、被囚作家及其家人的书信。
 
“我们在这里是想表明在为奥运会狂热的今天，世界没有忘记系狱的45位中国作家，”美国笔会主席Francine Prose说，“我们希望这些作家及他们的家人知道他们并没有被遗忘而且在奥运会结束之后也不会被遗忘。”
“打破沉默，奥运前夕为被囚中国作家发声”是笔会持续8个月之久的“我们为表达自由准备好了”运动的最后一项内容。这一运动由国际笔会的三个分会（加拿大笔会、美国笔会、独立中文笔会）发起，要求中国政府释放被关押的所有作家和记者，并保证奥运前、奥运中和奥运后的出版自由。
 
“北京奥运会的前夕，中国没有履行七年前关于改善人权的承诺，”独立中文笔会理事会成员刘晓波说，“仍然存在言论控制，仍然经常有作家因言获罪，仍然是草木皆兵。”“对于奥林匹克，没有‘同一个世界’或‘同一个梦想’，只有象以往一样的‘同一个专政’，”刘先生补充说。
 
尽管奥运会的开幕标志着这一运动的结束，但关于逮捕、关押、折磨的记录将成为中国背弃承诺的证据，它将在奥运会结束、世界的关注发生转移很久之后衡量中国人民表达自由受到的侵害。
 
“社会的健康取决于给予记者和富于创造性的艺术家完全的自由，”笔会成员Edward Albee说，“没有这种自由就没有文明。”
 
Albee、Russell Banks、 Philip Gourevitch、Jessica Hagedorn、 Hari Kunzru、 Rick Moody、Martha Southgate, 美国笔会主席 Francine Prose, 西藏学生 Chime Dolma和独立中文笔会成员李江琳、陈破空朗诵了九位系狱作家的作品和声明，并在Tishman礼堂向爆满的听众做了演讲。
 
2007年12月10日，美国笔会、加拿大笔会、独立中文笔会跟进了40位中国系狱作家和记者的案件，在奥运会开幕之日，经过了无数的附加拘留和少数释放，笔会现在跟进着52位作家的案件，其中45位仍在狱中。
美国笔会、加拿大笔会、独立中文笔会隶属于拥有145个分会的国际笔会，致力于促进各地作家之间的交流与合作，为实现表达自由而努力，并体现世界文学的良心。了解更多信息、获取被囚作家名单，请点击www.pen.org/china2008, www.pencanada.ca, www.chinesepen.org.
 
PEN Gives Voice to Silenced Writers in China on Eve of the Olympics
Writers Vow Jailed Colleagues Will Not Be Forgotten
New York, Toronto, Stockholm, August 8, 2008— In New York last night, celebrated PEN members gathered to read banned and censored work by writers in China, including new and never-before translated writings by Tsering Woeser, Yang Tongyan, and other leading dissident writers and testimonials and letters from jailed writers and their families.
“We are here to make sure that the world does not forget, in all the Olympic fervor, that there are 45 of our colleagues in Chinese prisons on this day,” said Francine Prose, president of PEN American Center, “We want our colleagues and their families to know that they are not forgotten today and will not be forgotten when the Olympics are over.”
Bringing Down the Great Firewall of China: Silenced Writers Speak on the Eve of the Olympics was the culminating event of PEN’s eight-month long “We Are Ready for Freedom of Expression” campaign. The campaign, led by three centers of International PEN (PEN Canada, PEN American Center and the Independent Chinese PEN Center), challenged the Chinese government to release all writers and journalists currently imprisoned in China, and to guarantee freedom of the press before, during, and after the Olympic Games. 
“On the eve of the Beijing Olympics, the promise that China made seven years ago to improve human rights is unfulfilled,” said Dr. Liu Xiaobo, board member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center. “There are still controls on speech, still frequent imprisonments of writers for their writings, and still the fear that every bush and tree is an enemy.” 
“For these Olympics, there is neither ‘One World’ nor ‘One Dream,’ just One Dictatorship, as usual,” Dr. Liu added.
Although the start of the Olympics formally marks the end of the campaign, the record of arrest, imprisonment and harassment stands as an indelible record of China’s broken promises. It will be the measure of what happens to freedom of expression for the people of China long after the Olympics are over and the scrutiny of the world is diverted.
The health of a society is determined by the absolute freedom it gives its journalists and creative artists, said PEN member Edward Albee. There can be no civilization without this freedom.
Albee, Russell Banks, Philip Gourevitch, Jessica Hagedorn, Hari Kunzru, Rick Moody, Martha Southgate, PEN American Center President Francine Prose, Tibetan student Chime Dolma, and Independent Chinese PEN Center members Jianglin Li and Pokong Chen read from works and statements of nine writers who are imprisoned or threatened, and spoke to a full house at the Tishman Auditorium at The New School.
 
On December 10, 2007, PEN American Center, PEN Canada, and the Independent Chinese PEN Center were following the cases of 40 writers and journalists imprisoned in China. Today, on the opening day of the Olympics, after numerous additional detentions and a few releases, PEN is following the cases of 52 writers, 45 of whom are still in prison.
PEN American Center, PEN Canada, and the Independent Chinese PEN Center are 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. For more information on the campaign and a complete list of writers, please visit www.pen.org/china2008, www.pencanada.ca, and www.chinesepen.org.