States said it was close to resolving concerns over the African country’s records on religious freedom, reports said Friday March 18.
Compass Direct, a Christian news agency investigating persecution, said 16 Christians of the
Kale Hiwot Church in a member’s home in the town of Adi-Kibe were arrested Sunday, March 13, and put under custody at the local police station.
On Monday, March 14, two older women in the group were released after paying fines of about $12 in local currency and listening to "severe admonitions" from local security police, Compass Direct cited church sources a saying.
"The other 14 remain jailed at the Adi-Kibe police station although no official charges have been filed against them," Compass Direct said.
"PRODUCTIVE CONTACTS"
It came as President George W. Bush’s administration said it was asking Congress for a few more weeks to continue what are seen as "productive contacts" with Eritrea, as well as with Vietnam and Saudi Arabia aimed at resolving U.S. concerns about their records on religious freedom.
Recently Washington claimed "Eritrea’s poor record" on religious rights continued to worsen
with the government monitoring, harassing and arresting members of Evangelical Christian groups, the Voice of America (VOA) network reported.
It was not immediately clear how news on the latest arrest could effect the outcome of the apparent talks between American and Eritrean officials.
SANCTIONS POSSIBLE
The U.S. law setting up the religion reports provides for a variety of sanctions against those listed as Countries of Particular Concern, but it also allows for a waiver of penalties if the administration deems that to be in the U.S. national interest.
In September, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and Eritrea were added to the list, while Iraq was removed. Burma, China, Iran, North Korea and Sudan reportedly remained on the list, all of which are already subject to some U.S. sanctions.
PARTICULAR CONCERN
"As you know, in September we designated Eritrea, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam as Countries of Particular Concern,” said State Department Deputy Spokesman Adam Ereli.
"Since that time, we’ve been actively engaged with all three in working for improvements in respect for religious freedom in those countries. We’ve made some important progress. I think we’re close to arrangements that respond to issues raised in the report. And we think that with a little bit more time, we can take care of some of the issues," he told reporters.
The Eritrean Government closed down all independent congregations not linked with the country’s four officially recognized religions, Orthodox Christian, Catholic, Lutheran and Muslim by presidential decree in May 2002.
PASTORS DETAINED
Three prominent Protestant pastors have been held incommunicado since their arrest 10 months ago, with the Eritrean government refusing to file charges against them or bring them to court, Compass Direct reported.
It said that in the first 10 weeks of this year alone, a total of 230 Christians have been subjected to police arrest and imprisonment in 10 separate incidents confirmed in Asmara, Barentu, Adi-Tekelzan, Keren, and Adi-Kibe.
In total at least 550 Christians are held in prisons and even metal containers in the small African nation because of their religious activities, including children and Christians caught worshipping during military service, said human rights watchdog Voice Of the Martyrs recently.
‘TASK FORCE’
Human rights watchers also say a Task Force has been set up by the Eritrean government to devastate all Pentecostal and Evangelical Christians by the end of 2005, apparently because they are the fastest growing Christian group.
However under apparent pressure, nearly a month after his arrest, Prof. Senere Zaid was among the few Christians released by security police authorities and allowed to return home to his wife and children on February 28, Compass Direct said. A member of the Living God Church in Asmara, Zaid was arrested on February 3 after police discovered his name on the rental contract of a facility for worship used by the Kidane Mehrete revival group.
Zaid was released on bail, reportedly under severe warnings if he participated in any more evangelical Christian activities in the future. No terms of the bail were known, nor whether any charges have been filed against him.
GOVERNMENT DENIES
An agriculture professor at Asmara’s Eritrea University where he specializes in erosion and soil and water conservation, Zaid is completing his Ph.D. studies at the University of Wageningen, the Netherlands. The Eritrean government has denied there is religious persecution in the country and President Isaias Afwerki is known to have said that several religious groups were "duped by foreigners" who sought to "distract from the unity of the Eritrean people and distort the true meaning of religion."
But the All Africa Conference of Church has reportedly condemned what it sees as a crackdown and urged the authorities not to use religion to divide the troubled nation of four million people, which emerged from its long war for independence in 1993 and soon plunged into another conflict with Yemen and later with Ethiopia.
Authorities have said the war situation in the African nation demands "extraordinary measures", which critics say have apparently been extended to churches. (With: Stefan J. Bos, Compass Direct, Reports from Eritrea, Washington, and BosNewsLife Research)
