After September 11, 2001, the U.S. government gained new power from the Patriot Act, related legislation, and executive orders enacted unilaterally without public review, in order to: monitor the daily activities of U.S. citizens; collect information on personal associations, reading habits, and opinions; weaken the power of Americans to monitor government activities; restrict the free flow of information and ideas; and sponsor a shadow legal system that undercuts basic human-rights and due-process protections.

In 2004, PEN launched the Core Freedoms Campaign in response to these measures, and has since worked toward the reversal or correction of U.S. policies that threaten free expression, harm democracy, and place the United States on the wrong side of international laws we have long promoted.

The following Campaign statement was signed by over 1,300 writers, journalists, and supporters, and was published in The New York Review of Books in 2004.

Since September 11, 2001, the United States has passed laws and adopted law enforcement methods that compromise core American values and put our country on shaky ground internationally. Under the USA Patriot Act and related legislation—and under executive orders enacted without public review—federal authorities have:

· gained new power to monitor the daily activities of U.S. citizens and residents and collect information on personal associations, reading habits, and opinions;

· weakened the power of the American people to monitor government activities and built barriers that restrict the flow of information and ideas;

· and created a shadow legal system that undercuts basic due-process protections.

Government officials insist these measures are necessary to fight terrorism and prevent future terrorist attacks. But similar laws in other countries grappling with terrorism and security threats have generally made difficult situations worse and have often been misused to shield government failings, silence critics, and thwart democracy.

Before 9/11, the United States criticized governments that suppressed freedom of speech and information and disregarded due-process protections in the name of fighting terrorism. We officially condemned trials by secret tribunals, protested secret detentions, and challenged restrictions on access to information and limits on the right to criticize government actions. We rejected the same arguments our own leaders now offer to justify emergency powers. In a bitter turn, many governments we criticized then now point to U.S. behavior to justify new levels of repression.

What was wrong then remains wrong today. Aspects of post-9/11 security measures, and the ways these measures have been applied, threaten free expression, harm democracy, and put us on the wrong side of international laws we have long promoted.

It is time to review the USA PATRIOT Act and the full range of antiterrorism laws and orders enacted since 9/11. As writers and as United States residents and citizens, we encourage our elected representatives to take concrete steps to:

· protect the personal privacy necessary for the free exploration of information and ideas;

· protect public access to both governmental information and a full range of voices from the United States and around the world;

· and promote U.S. policies that reflect a core commitment to individual rights, preserve these rights at home, and expand them internationally.