Nobel laureates among 180 writers demanding proof of life for detained Eritrean authors

A total of 188 writers signed the letter, dated 18 September, addressed to Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki. Alongside Nobel Prize winners Olga Tokarczuk and JM Coetzee, signatories include Colm Tóibín, Elif Shafak, Isabel Allende, Ben Okri, Yann Martel, Kamila Shamsie and Tsitsi Dangarembga.

The letter demands immediate, verified proof of life for 12 writers who have been held incommunicado since 2001, including poet Amanuel Asrat and playwright and journalist Dawit Isaak. The other named writers are Dawit Habtemichael, Fessehaye Yohannes, Mattewos Habteab, Medhanie Haile, Sahle Tsegazeab, Said Abdelkadir, Said Idris, Seyoum Tsehaye, Temesgen Ghebreyesus and Yousif Mohammed Ali.

The letter states that families of the detained writers, the Eritrean people and the global literary community have faced unlawful silence for years regarding the prisoners' health, whereabouts and survival, calling the situation a violation of international law.

Decades of repression

Eritrea has been ruled as a dictatorship since gaining independence in 1993, with no national elections ever held. In 2001 the government carried out a sweeping crackdown on the independent press, arresting numerous journalists and writers.

Other signatories include Andrei Kurkov, Anthony Doerr, Lauren Groff, Lemn Sissay and Maaza Mengiste. PEN International plans to attempt delivery of the letter to the Eritrean embassy in London on Friday. Earlier this year the organisation also launched a public petition making the same demand.

PEN International president Burhan Sönmez said 25 years of uncertainty over a loved one's fate is unbearable for families, and pledged to keep speaking the missing writers' names until the truth is known.