UK – The Guardian, Sept. 18, 2026
More than 180 writers sign letter renewing calls for information on 12 authors detained incommunicado since 2001 crackdown on free speech by Isaias Afwerki
More than 180 writers have signed a letter to Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki calling for proof of life for 12 writers arrested in 2001.
Nobel laureates Olga Tokarczuk and JM Coetzee join prominent writers including Colm Tóibín, Elif Shafak, Isabel Allende, Ben Okri, Yann Martel, Kamila Shamsie and Tsitsi Dangarembga in signing the letter organised by PEN International and dated 18 September, marking 25 years since a government crackdown on the independent press. “Within days, Eritrea’s free press and the nation’s independent voices were systematically crushed,” opens the letter.
It lists 12 writers who have been held incommunicado since 2001, including the poet Amanuel Asrat and playwright and journalist Dawit Isaak.
“The families of these writers, the Eritrean people and the global literary community have been met with a painful and unlawful silence,” continues the statement. “To withhold all information regarding their health, location, and survival is a violation of international law and an act of cruelty.”
Along with Asrat and Isaak, the other writers named in the letter are 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. Six of the writers were profiled in the Guardian in 2015.
