‘We demand the truth’: Olga Tokarczuk and JM Coetzee lead calls for proof of life of disappeared Eritrean writers

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 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.

The letter, signed by 188 writers in total, calls for “immediate, verified proof of life for all arbitrarily detained Eritrean writers and critics”.

Other signatories include Andrei Kurkov, Anthony Doerr, Chloe Aridjis, Lauren Groff, Lemn Sissay, Maaza Mengiste, Madeleine Thien, Margaret Busby, Max Porter, Philippe Sands, Preti Taneja, Tice Cin and Viv Groskop.

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

Eritrea operates as a repressive dictatorship under Afwerki, with no national elections held since independence in 1993.

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

PEN International will attempt delivery of the letter at the Eritrean embassy in London at 10am on Friday. Earlier this year, the organisation launched a petition, open to the public, which also calls for proof of life.

“Twenty-five years is an unbearable length of time for any family to live without knowing whether a loved one is alive,”, said Burhan Sönmez, president of PEN International. “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.”