Emmanuel Pierrat gave the Committee Chair report in which he also told of the election that took place in Bled, Slovenia May 2019. Pierrat was elected the Chair of the committee as a successor of Marjan Strojan. The vice presidents are Veera Tyhtilä (Finland), Simon Mundy (Wales Center), Franc Miksa (Slovenian Pen) and Tienchi Martin-Liao (Chinese in exile, base in Germany). Edvard Kovac (Slovenian Pen) will work with us as the Permanent Secretary. These decisions were confirmed by the Committee Meeting, and the Congress later on.
Approval of Bled meeting 2019 minutes
The morning meeting approved the minutes of the Bled meeting and heard the chairman's report and strategy for 2019-2022. The Peace Committee is in a major phase of transition from its traditional location in Bled, Slovenia, to start touring like other committees. Reform is needed but requires careful consideration when redefining policies. The intention is that the Bled meeting will continue as an annual, but more prominent, literary festival. The next Peace Committee meetings will be France 2019, Mali 2020 and Lebanon 2021. The aim is to enable the Committee to better focus on current problem areas in the world by moving closer to those in need of communication. The development plans were generally considered very good at the meeting.
Olha Mukha visited the Peace Committee to request a subcommittee in order to establish a committee-specific code of conduct.
The following motions for resolutions were tabled and adopted:
Resolution on threats against democracy : The Committee expresses its deep concern on the increase of exclusive populist politics that erode the rule of law, the representative nature of elections and the protection of minorities’ rights.
Resolution on threats against freedom of expression and Peace in Southeast Asia: The Committee expresses its concerns about the continuous and exacerbated violations of human rights by many governments in Southeast Asia. Those violations threaten the freedom of the citizens.
Resolution on migration and displaced writers: PEN has to face the distress of refugees and asile seekers by improving journalists and writers’ status or by strengthening opportunities for migrants to contribute to the economic and social development of their host country.
Updates and suggestions of the centres were heard. The discussion was attended by, among others. Bangladesh, Romania, India, Turkey, Germany, Philippines, and Morocco. Public hate speech, the rise of right-wing populism / fascism and the erosion of democracy were seen as common concerns.
There were also comments and ideas of how to improve the committee’s work. Here are some excerpts from the suggestions:
Romanian PEN proposed that the WfPC should publish a book with some beautiful texts about peace in it. After all, we are all writers and that’s our way to participate.
PEN India noted that the current Indian leadership is using the digital marketing very well and asked what kind of tools PEN or the WfPC could have in order to resist the spreading of disinformation.
There was a question if the PEN International Vice Presidents could write short texts for a collection that would oppose the rise of the right-wing populism. There was a discussion about where and how this could be published.
Moroccan PEN asked about the relationship between PEN Peace Committee and the Nobel Peace Price. What is PEN’s role?
In the afternoon, a panel discussion was held on the subject of hate speech. Attendees were Ilaria Maria Sala (Hong Kong), Mohammad Moheuddin (Bangladesh), Burhan Sönmez (Turkey), Angelo R. Lacuesta (Philippines) and Anzhelina Polonskaya (Russia).
PEACE COMMITTEE MEETING
85thPEN International Congress Manila, Philippines
Monday 30 September (9 am – 6 pm): Venue – De La Salle University
Attendees:
Introduction of the empty chair. Veera Tyhtilä introduced Uighur writer Ilham Tohti.https://pen-international.org/news/china-civil-society-calls-on-authorities-to-immediatelyrelease-uyghur-professor-ilham-tohti-five-years-after-his-arrest
Emmanuel Pierrat gave the Committee Chair report in which he also told of the election that took place in Bled, Slovenia May 2019. Pierrat was elected the Chair of the committee as a successor of Marjan Strojan. The vice presidents are Veera Tyhtilä (Finland), Simon Mundy (Wales Center), Franc Miksa (Slovenian Pen) and Tienchi Martin-Liao (Chinese in exile, base in Germany). Edvard Kovac (Slovenian Pen) will work with us as the Permanent Secretary. These decisions were confirmed by the Committee Meeting, and the Congress later on.
Approval of Bled meeting 2019 minutes
The morning meeting approved the minutes of the Bled meeting and heard the chairman's report and strategy for 2019-2022. The Peace Committee is in a major phase of transition from its traditional location in Bled, Slovenia, to start touring like other committees. Reform is needed but requires careful consideration when redefining policies. The intention is that the Bled meeting will continue as an annual, but more prominent, literary festival. The next Peace Committee meetings will be France 2019, Mali 2020 and Lebanon 2021. The aim is to enable the Committee to better focus on current problem areas in the world by moving closer to those in need of communication. The development plans were generally considered very good at the meeting.
Olha Mukha visited the Peace Committee to request a subcommittee in order to establish a committee-specific code of conduct.
The following motions for resolutions were tabled and adopted:
Updates and suggestions of the centres were heard. The discussion was attended by, among others. Bangladesh, Romania, India, Turkey, Germany, Philippines, and Morocco. Public hate speech, the rise of right-wing populism / fascism and the erosion of democracy were seen as common concerns.
There were also comments and ideas of how to improve the committee’s work. Here are some excerpts from the suggestions:
In the afternoon, a panel discussion was held on the subject of hate speech. Attendees were Ilaria Maria Sala (Hong Kong), Mohammad Moheuddin (Bangladesh), Burhan Sönmez (Turkey), Angelo R. Lacuesta (Philippines) and Anzhelina Polonskaya (Russia).