# Writers demand proof of life for 12 disappeared Eritrean authors

> More than 180 global authors call on Eritrea's president to reveal the fate of writers detained without contact since a 2001 crackdown on free speech.
- Title: Writers demand proof of life for 12 disappeared Eritrean…
- Summary: More than 180 global authors call on Eritrea's president to reveal the fate of writers detained without contact since a 2001 crackdown on free speech. A…
- Keywords: eritrea, writers, disappeared persons, free speech, isaias afwerki, pen international, olga tokarczuk, jm coetzee, human rights, press freedom, dawit isaak, amanuel asrat
- Source: the Guardian — https://theguardian.com/books/2026/sep/18/olga-tokarczuk-j-m-coetzee-lead-calls-for-release-of-disappeared-eritrean-writers
- Published: 2026-09-18T08:30:12+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: eritrea, writers, disappeared persons, free speech, isaias afwerki, pen international, olga tokarczuk, jm coetzee, human rights, press freedom, dawit isaak, amanuel asrat
## 12 Eritrean writers vanished 25 years ago
In 2001, Eritrea's government arrested 12 writers and journalists without trial and held them incommunicado. Their families have received no information about their health, location, or survival since.

> Within days, Eritrea's free press and the nation's independent voices were systematically crushed.
## Nobel laureates join global call for answers
More than 180 writers, including Nobel Prize winners Olga Tokarczuk and JM Coetzee, have signed a letter demanding proof of life for the detained authors. Signatories also include Colm Tóibín, Elif Shafak, and Isabel Allende.

> We demand the truth about what happened to them.
## The 12 names the world must remember
The detained writers include poet Amanuel Asrat and playwright Dawit Isaak. The others are Dawit Habtemichael, Fessehaye Yohannes, Mattewos Habteab, Medhanie Haile, Sahle Tsegazeab, Said Abdelkadir, Said Idris, Seyoum Tsehaye, Temesgen Ghebreyesus, and Yousif Mohammed Ali.
## Withholding information violates international law
The letter states that keeping families in the dark about their relatives' survival is unlawful and cruel. It calls for immediate, verified proof of life for all arbitrarily detained Eritrean writers and critics.

> To withhold all information regarding their health, location, and survival is a violation of international law and an act of cruelty.
## Eritrea's dictatorship shows no signs of change
Eritrea operates as a repressive dictatorship under President Isaias Afwerki, with no national elections held since independence in 1993. The government crushed the independent press and silenced dissent through mass arrests.
## Writers vow to keep speaking their names
PEN International's president said the literary community will not stop demanding the truth. The organization launched a public petition earlier this year and continues to call for verified proof of life for all detained writers.

> These writers have not disappeared from our memory. We will continue to speak their names.
## Key takeaway

A quarter-century after Eritrea's government arrested 12 writers and journalists, the international literary community is demanding answers about whether they are still alive.