Advocacy & Aid

Acclaimed writers from around the world have signed an open letter to President Isaias Afwerki, in support of PEN’s global Proof of Life campaign. Signatories include Nobel laureates Olga Tokarczuk and J.M. Coetzee; Burhan Sonmez, President of PEN International; Rohinton Mistry, recipient of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature; Ben Okri and Yann Martel, Booker Prize winners; Tsitsi Dangarembga, recipient of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade; Isabel Allende, recipient of the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters; Anthony Doerr, Pulitzer Prize winner; and Colm Tóibín, winner of the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, among others.

The letter calls for verified proof of life for 12 Eritrean writers and journalists who have been held incommunicado since 2001 and calls for an end to 25 years of silence and enforced disappearance.

Mr. President:

September 18, 2026 marks exactly 25 years since your government launched a brutal crackdown on critics of your administration. Within days, Eritrea’s free press and the nation’s independent voices were systematically crushed.

The crackdown saw security forces arbitrarily arrest and detain journalists, writers, and poets who hoped to build a just, peaceful, and democratic Eritrea. We remember their names today: Amanuel Asrat; Dawit Habtemichael; Dawit Isaak; Fessehaye ‘Joshua’ Yohannes; Matheos Habteab; Medhanie Haile; Sahle ‘Wedi-ltay’ Tsegazeab; Said Abdelkadir; Said Idris ‘Abu Are’; Seyoum Tsehaye; Temesgen Ghebreyesus; and Yousif Mohammed Ali.

For a quarter of a century, these individuals have been held incommunicado and denied access to legal representation, medical care, and their loved ones. They are among the world’s longest-detained writers. Their only apparent crime was being independent voices and speaking of the Eritrea they dreamed of for the future. They should not have been detained in the first place. The families of these writers, the Eritrean people, and the global literary community have been met with a painful and unlawful silence. To withhold all information regarding their health, location, and survival is a violation of international law and an act of cruelty.

We, the undersigned writers, journalists, poets, publishers, and human rights advocates from all corners of the world, write to you today with a single, urgent demand: provide immediate, verified proof of life for all arbitrarily detained Eritrean writers and critics.

Mr. President, Eritrea’s future must be built with its brightest minds, not based on their suppression. No writer or journalist should be disappeared for peacefully expressing their views.

We remain in solidarity with our missing colleagues, and we will not cease our efforts until they are free.

Signed by:

Abdulai Sila, Guinea- Bissau
Abedom Weldemariam, Luxembourg
Abraham T. Zere, USA
Ahdaf Soueif, United Kingdom
Ahmed Sadeg, Sudan
Akberet Mehari, The Netherlands
Alfred Msadala, Malawi
Allieu Kamara, Sierra Leone
Alsadig Alradi, Sudan
Anna Manso, Catalonia
Antònia Carré-Pons, Catalonia
Amal Akasha, Sudan
Amani Abdelgalil, Sudan
Aminatta Forna, United Kingdom
Andrea Barnet, USA
Andrei Kurkov, Ukraine
Annie Olivier, South Africa
Anthony Doerr, USA
Arlin Cicekci, Türkiye
Awet Fissehaye Mebrahtom, United Kingdom
Awet Mengsteab, The Netherlands
Ayi Renaud Dossavi, Togo
Beatrice Lamwaka, Uganda
Ben Okri, Nigeria/United Kingdom
Bibi Burger, South Africa
Bokre Ghebreyesus, USA
Bongani Kona, South Africa
Burhan Sonmez, Türkiye/United Kingdom
Canisia Lubrin, Canada
Carole Carcillo Mesrobian, France
Carolyn Cohagan, USA
Catherine Banner, United Kingdom
Catrina Wessels, South Africa
Charles Foran, Canada
Chidi Anthony Opara, Nigeria
Chloe Aridjis, United Kingdom
Christopher McFarlane, Australia
Colm Toibin, Ireland

Cristina Mas, Catalonia
Cristina Wormull Chiorrini, Chile
Dacia Maraini, Italy
Dan Midalia, Australia
Daniel Kifle, United Kingdom
Daniel Pedreira, Cuba/USA
Daniel Semere Tesfai, Germany
Denden Solomon, Uganda
Dessale Berekhet Abraham, Norway
Diane Alméras, Chile
Dinaw Mengestu, Ethiopia/USA
Dominique Gaucher, Canada
Ekram Abdullah Berkia, Sudan
Èlia Borràs, Catalonia
Elif Shafak, Türkiye/United Kingdom
Ellen van Pelt, Belgium
Emad Badawi, Sudan
Éric Brucher, Belgium
Eric Lax, USA
Erla Diedericks, South Africa
Ermias Ekube, Sweden
Faisal Elbagir, Sudan
Fikrey Yeman, Norway
Fr. Yonas Welderufael, Sweden
Gemma Ruiz, Catalonia
Germán Rojas, Chile
Ghirmai Negash, USA
Ghirmay Yohannes, Sweden
Gillian Slovo, United Kingdom
Gioconda Belli, Nicaragua
Gloria Browne-Marshall, USA
Hafiz Azharr Hafiz Abbas Mohmed, Sudan
Halima Abdulazeez, Nigeria
Hanna Komar, United Kingdom
Helene Jaccomard, Australia
Ibrahim Hassan (Kojan), Sudan
Ira Wells, Canada
Irene Pujades, Catalonia
Isabel Allende, USA
Ishraga Mustafa Hamid, Sudan
Issayas Beyene, United Kingdom
Izak de Vries, South Africa
Izzeldin Taha, Sudan
J M Coetzee, Australia
James Gleick, USA
Jennifer Clement, USA/Mexico
Jennifer Finney Boylan, USA

Joan-Lluís Lluís, Catalonia
Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, USA
John Ralston Saul, Canada
Josephine Scicluna, Australia
Judith Wilkinson, Australia
Julian Fellowes, United Kingdom
Juliet Jacques, United Kingdom
Kamal Bashari, Sudan
Kamila Shamsie, United Kingdom
Kokob Tesfaldet, Sweden
Krishna Sen, Australia
Lakshmi Kanchi, Australia
Lamia Gasim, Sudan
Lars Gudmundson, Norway
Laura Hubber, USA
Lauren Groff, USA
Laurie Halse Anderson, USA
Lemn Sissay, United Kingdom
Lesley Marshall, New Zealand
Lila Cona, Serbia
Linwood Barclay, Canada
Louis de Bernieres, United Kingdom
Louise L. Lambrichs, France
Lydia Cacho, Mexico
Llúcia Ramis, Catalonia
Maaza Mengiste, Ethiopia/USA
Madeleine Thien, Canada
Mai Musie, United Kingdom
Maria Climent, Catalonia
Margaret Busby, United Kingdom
Marian Botsford Fraser, Canada
Màrius Serra, Catalonia
Max Porter, United Kingdom
Mazen Darwish, Syria
Mekonen Tesfai, USA
Mercy Kannemeyer, South Africa
Merel de Beer, Netherlands
Mihret Kebede, Austria
Mikhail Shishkin, Russian Federation
Mille Rode, Denmark
Mogahid Eisa Adam, Sudan
Mogos Okbamichael, UK
Mohamed Alsabd, Sudan
Mohamed Sidahmed, Sudan
Mujtaba Mannan, Sudan
Munyao Kilolo, Kenya
Mussab Mohammed Ali, Sudan
Mustafa Adam, Sudan

Muzna Abdulrahman Mohammed, Sudan
Nadia Davids, South Africa
Nadifa Mohamed, United Kingdom
Nasser Ahmedin, Norway
Nii Ayikwei Parkes, United Kingdom
Núria Cadenes, Catalonia
Obinna Chilekezi Nigeria
Olga Tokarczuk, Poland
Osama Altayeb, Sudan
Osama Edries, Sudan
Osman Omer (Turath), Sudan
Paolo Giordano, Italy
Philip Slayton, Canada
Philippe Sands, United Kingdom
Preti Taneja, United Kingdom
Rashid Sid Ahmed Elsheikh, Sudan
Richard Stursberg, Canada
Ricky Monahan Brown, Scotland
Roaya Yahya Idris Okasha, Sudan
Robin Bower, Australia
Rohinton Mistry, India/Canada
Rui Umezawa, Canada
Saba Kidane, France
Said Khatibi, Algeria
Salil Tripathi, India/USA
Salma Abdelazim Yousif, Sudan
Samar Yazbek, France
Sandro Veronesi, Italy
Sara Hamza Aljack, Sudan
Sebastià Alzamora, Catalonia
Sergei Lebedev, Russia
Shawna-Leze Meiring, South Africa
Sheng Xue, China
Shishai Shimondi, Germany
Shishay Gebrehans, Sweden
Stella Gaitano, South Sudan
Tedros Abraham Beraki, Sweden
Tesfit Abraham, Uganda
Tessy Baila, Greece
Tice Cin, United Kingdom
Toyin Adenubi, Nigeria
Tsegay Mehari, Sweden
Tsitsi Dangarembga, Zimbabwe
Viv Glance, Australia
Viv Groskop, United Kingdom
Wagdi Elsheikh Manssour, Sudan
Wahab Michael- Norway
Wolfgang Martin Roth, Austria
Yann Martel, Canada
Yassmin Abdel-Magied, United Kingdom
Yirgalem Fisseha Mebrahtu, Germany
Yonas Haile, Sweden
Yonatan Tsighe, USA
Yorn Young, Cambodia
Yousif Alhabob, Sudan