Eritrea arrests over 200 Christians in one year

YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – Eritrea, located in East Africa, is among the top ten countries in the world where following Jesus is an extremely dangerous endeavor.

A report by Release International, a UK-based organisation that focuses on persecution of the Church around the world, published on 3 July, said at least 218 Christians, including many women and children, had been arrested in Eritrea in the past 12 months.

“The latest crackdown means that some 400 Christians are now imprisoned – indefinitely, without trial or charge – because of their faith,” the report said.

It is reported that 110 Christians were arrested between January and May.

“In the latest round of arrests, some children have been arrested along with their parents, and in some cases the entire family is in prison,” said Dr. Berhane Asmelash, a former prisoner of the faith and local partner of Release International.

“We are very concerned about the physical and mental well-being of the children, some of whom are just two years old. This is completely unacceptable and we strongly condemn this inhumane act by the Eritrean government,” he said.

Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after 30 years of war. Former independence leader Isaias Afwerki has ruled the country ever since.

Afwerki initially led the country toward democratic rule but then became increasingly authoritarian, and the church paid a high price for it. His government recognizes only four state religions, namely the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Sunni Islam, the Catholic Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea, but even with them the government maintains tight control over their activities, finances and sermons.

“Speaking out about persecution or government interference in church affairs is not tolerated at all,” Open Doors states.

Ellis Heasley, spokesman for Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said: Point in an earlier interview that “in Eritrea, Christians continue to be widely imprisoned and subjected to other violations of their basic human rights.”

“Many are familiar with the case of Abune (Father) Antonios, the rightful patriarch of the Orthodox Church, who died on February 9, 2022, after 16 years under house arrest. He was removed from office in 2006, in violation of canon law, for repeatedly opposing government interference in church affairs and refusing to excommunicate members of the Orthodox renewal movement. He died amid accusations that he had been injected with an unknown substance that had a detrimental effect on his health,” he said.

“The continued and unjust detention of the patriarch in his final years is indicative of the continuing hostility of the Eritrean authorities towards Christian groups in the country. The government has effectively ‘taken over’ the Orthodox Church, controlling its finances, selling its assets, approving and imposing its leaders, and imprisoning priests and others who oppose it,” Heasley said.

Release International’s latest report comes at the same time as the U.S. Department of State released its report on religious freedom around the world, which listed Eritrea as a country of particular concern “for having committed or tolerated particularly serious violations of religious freedom.”

This has always been the case for the Horn of Africa country, since 2004.

Nigerian Archbishop of Abuja Ignatius Kaigama said Point that a violation of the right to religion is a fundamental violation of all other freedoms.

“Freedom of religion is not just an American right, it is a right for all people. It goes hand in hand with freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and when freedom of religion is restricted, all of those rights are at risk. And for that reason, freedom of religion is often a proxy for other human rights,” Kaigama said.

Kaigama said that while religious freedom is under threat in many parts of the world, the media does not pay much attention to the issue.

“A journalist imprisoned in Iran will probably attract more attention than the 3,000 Christians killed or enslaved in Sudan,” he said. Point.

Heasley of Christian Solidarity Worldwide says her organization continues to call on “the Eritrean government to immediately and unconditionally release every prisoner of conscience in the country and to end the use of torture, arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention.”

“We call on Eritrea to fully cooperate with the UN Human Rights Council and its special procedures to improve the human rights situation and fully implement the recommendations of successive Special Rapporteurs and the Commission of Inquiry,” she said. Point.