Join us as Columbia Global Freedom of Expression, PEN America, and Index on Censorship bring together leading experts on freedom of expression to discuss Saudi Arabia’s ongoing crackdown on dissent and what can be done to hold the monarchy accountable for arrests, torture, and murder. This event is co-sponsored by the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism, Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute, and the Columbia Journalism School. This is part of the Index on Censorship college tour of campuses across the country talking about how free speech is for everyone.
Dr. Agnes Callamard is the Director of Columbia University Global Freedom of Expression, an initiative seeking to advance understanding on freedom of expression global norms, and Special Adviser to the President of Columbia University and first amendment scholar Lee Bollinger. On August 1, 2016, she was appointed the UN Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial summary or arbitrary executions. Dr. Callamard has a distinguished career in human rights and humanitarian work globally. In 2019, she led a human rights inquiry into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Safa Al Ahmad is a journalist and filmmaker who has directed documentaries for PBS and the BBC focusing on uprisings in the Middle East. Her film Saudi's Secret Uprising was the first documentary of its kind to document the historically unprecedented protests in the kingdom. Her writing on the Arab uprisings was published in an anthology Writing Revolutions published by Penguin, which won an English PEN award. Safa is a board member of the Frontline Freelance Register, and advocates for the safety and welfare of freelance journalists who are exposed to risk in their work.
Karin Deutsch Karlekar is the director of PEN America's Free Expression At Risk Programs and leads PEN America's assistance to individuals at risk as a result of their expression and an ongoing partnership with PEN Myanmar. She has almost two decades of experience in global free expression, press freedom, and digital rights issues, as well as advocacy and assistance work on behalf of writers, bloggers, and journalists.
