Full Breakdown
Letter Demands Proof of Life for Disappeared Eritrean Writers
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Core Appeal and Signatory Details
On September 18, 2026, PEN International released a letter signed by 188 writers, including Nobel laureates Olga Tokarczuk and J M Coetzee, as well as Colm Tóibín, Elif Shafak, Isabel Allende, Ben Okri, Yann Martel, Kamila Shamsie, Tsitsi Dangarembga and others. The letter calls on President Isaias Afwerki to provide “immediate, verified proof of life” for 12 writers and journalists detained without charge since 2001. The named detainees are poet Amanuel Asrat, playwright-journalist Dawit Isaak, and ten others: Dawit Habtemichael, Fessehaye “Joshua” Yohannes, Mattewos Habteab, Medhanie Haile, Sahle “Wedi-ltay” Tsegazeab, Said Abdelkadir, Said Idris “Abu Are”, Seyoum Tsehaye, Temesgen Ghebreyesus, and Yousif Mohammed Ali.
Background: 2001 Crackdown and Ongoing Detention
According to English PEN, the 12 were arrested in 2001 after President Afwerki ordered the shutdown of all independent media and the systematic crushing of Eritrea’s free press. Since then, the detainees have been held incommunicado, with no trial, legal representation, or family contact, and Eritrean authorities have never disclosed their whereabouts or health status.
Official Statements and Campaign Timeline
PEN International launched the “Proof of Life” campaign on June 26, 2026, the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, with a public petition. The organization plans to deliver the September 18 letter to the Eritrean embassy in London at 10 a.m. on the same day. Burhan Sönmez, president of PEN International, emphasized the humanitarian urgency, noting that “twenty-five years is an unbearable length of time for any family to live without knowing whether a loved one is alive.” The campaign frames enforced disappearance as a violation of international law and a form of torture, urging accountability from a regime that has held no national elections since independence in 1993.
Verbatim Quote
“Twenty-five years is an unbearable length of time for any family to live without knowing whether a loved one is alive,” — Burhan Sönmez, PEN international president