PRESS RELEASE PEN INTERNATIONAL
18 SEPTEMBER 2026
176 writers from around the world, including Ben Okri, Isabel Allende, Anthony Doerr and Yann Martel, sign PEN International open letter to President Isaias Afwerki
18 September 2026, London: Nobel laureates Olga Tokarczuk and J.M. Coetzee, alongside leading international writers including Burhan Sonmez, President of PEN International, Jennifer Clement and John Ralston Saul, former Presidents of PEN International, Isabel Allende, Ben Okri, Yann Martel, Rohinton Mistry, Anthony Doerr, Colm Tóibín, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Kamila Shamsie, Ahdaf Soueif, Dacia Maraini, and others, have signed a PEN International open letter to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, in support of PEN International’s global Proof of Life campaign.
The letter calls for immediate, verified proof of life for 12 Eritrean writers and journalists who were arrested and disappeared in 2001, and for an end to 25 years of silence surrounding their fate.
“Twenty-five years is an unbearable length of time for any family to live without knowing whether a loved one is alive. These writers have not disappeared from our memory. We will continue to speak their names, and we will continue to demand the truth about what happened to them.” Burhan Sonmez, President of PEN International
The 12 writers and journalists are 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, their families and colleagues have received no verified information about their whereabouts, health or survival. The writers have been held incommunicado without trial or contact with their families. PEN International has consistently campaigned for their freedom and for information about their fate.
The letter calls on the Eritrean authorities to:
“Provide immediate, verified proof of life for all arbitrarily detained Eritrean writers and critics.”
Note to Editors
The full PEN International open letter is available to media under the same embargo.
ABOUT PEN INTERNATIONAL
PEN International is a global association of writers working to protect literature, freedom of expression and the free exchange of ideas. Founded in London in 1921, PEN International connects an international community of writers and works across five continents through more than 130 Centres in over 100 countries.
PEN International works to promote the PEN Charter, which affirms the freedom to create literature, to impart information and ideas, to express views, and to access the views, ideas and literatures of others. We champion the freedom to write and the power of literature to connect people and transform societies.
ENDS
