past 10 days, as part of what human rights groups describe as a refreshed repression on the Christian communities by the government, BosNewsLife monitored Wednesday, February 16.
Compass Direct, a Christian news agency, said 31 believers were detained in February as part of a total of 187 believers who were jailed for "illegal" Christian activities since the beginning of the year.
Among those arrested were 15 Christian women who were jailed at the police station in Keren last Saturday, February 12, after local authorities reportedly described the evangelical believers as "a threat to national security," Compass Direct said.
However, "all the sisters exposed to imprisonment and insult by the authorities in Keren were
gathered merely for the purpose of prayer, not any political purpose," the agency quoted one of their colleagues as saying.
BIBLE GROUP RAIDED
In addition 14 members of the Kale Hiwot Church in Adi-Tekelzan, were detained February 4 when police raided a Bible study at the home of their pastor, said the news agency, which has close ties with persecuted Christians.
The previous day Professor Senere Zaid of the agriculture faculty at Eritrea University was put under arrest in Asmara, Compass Direct claimed. It also documented the arrest of a medical doctor in Keren during the last week of January. The physician has now been transferred to military confinement at the Mai-Serwa military camp, the news agency said.
Christian human rights group Voice Of the Martyrs believes that at least 550 Christians are in prison because of their religious activities, including Christians caught worshipping during military service and who refused to give up their faith. Three well-known Protestant pastors are also believed to be among the prisoners, but the Eritrean government has so far declined to confirm their location.
AUTOCRATIC GOVERNMENT
Church watchers link the reported crack down to concern within the autocratic government about the evangelical Christian movement, which apparently continues to grow, despite apparent persecution.
In May 2002, all denominations were outlawed by the Eritrean government except the Roman Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran and Orthodox churches. Churches of at least a dozen denominations have been closed by government order and their congregations totaling about 20,000 believers are forbidden to worship even in their homes, Compass Direct said in an earlier report.
The banned groups include indigenous Pentecostal and charismatic congregations, as well as Adventist, Presbyterian, Assemblies of God and Methodist-linked churches. Baha’i and Jehovah’s Witness adherents are also targeted severely, according to human rights watchdogs.
PRAYING DANGEROUS
Individuals and groups caught praying, studying the Bible or worshipping outside the umbrella of the country’s four recognized "official" religions, Orthodox Christian, Catholic, Lutheran or Islam, continue to be jailed and tortured, human rights groups say. They are often incarcerated in metal shipping containers or underground cells, according to church sources and human rights groups.
However Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), another human rights watchdog, has also reported increased pressure on those denominations which were initially recognized by the government. The Eritrean authorities allegedly jailed 25 Roman Catholics in January for taking part in a wedding rehearsal in Asmara, and last year three Orthodox priests were reportedly detained.
"The persecution of officially recognized Christian denominations indicates a serious escalation of the repression of the Church in Eritrea. Eritrea’s denial of religious persecution in the country until now must be challenged by the international community and concrete steps taken to promote religious freedom and respect for human rights," said CSW National Director in a published statement.
GOVERNMENT DISAGREES
The Eritrean government has denied there is religious persecution in the country. Last year President Isaias Afworki reportedly said several religious groups have been "duped by foreigners" who sought to "distract from the unity of the Eritrean people and distort the true meaning of religion." He apparently stressed that such "futile efforts" would not be tolerated by his government.
The reported religious persecution has added to desperation among Eritrea’s over four million people. The country emerged from its long war of independence in 1993 only to plunge into another conflict, first with Yemen and then, more devastatingly, with its old adversary Ethiopia
(By: BosNewsLife News Center with Stefan J. Bos, Compass Direct, news reports from Eritrea, research).
