them for holding a worship service in a private home south of the capital Asmara, Christian investigators said Thursday, October 19.
Religious rights group Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) Australia told BosNewsLife that it has learned that Immanuel Andegergesh, 23, and Kibrom Firemichel, 30, died from torture wounds and severe dehydration Wednesday, October 18, in a military camp outside the town of Adi-Quala.
"The military buried the two unmarried men yesterday in the southern Eritrean town near the Ethiopian border," VOM Australia said.
Andegergesh and Firemichel were reportedly detained Sunday, October 15, along with 10 other Christians, while attending a worship service in the home of Christian Teklezgi Asgerdom.
EVANGELICAL CHURCH
The three women and seven men, all members of the evangelical Rema Church, were kept in military confinement, along with the murdered Christians, Andegergesh and Firemichel, and subjected to "furious mistreatment," VOM Australia quoted a source as saying.
The fate of the 10 other Christians was not known Thursday, October 19. VOM Australia, which is part of the worldwide VOM groups and has close contacts in the region, said it has urged supporters to "pray the Lord will comfort the families of these two [killed] men,"
and "for the safety and release of the other 10 Christians."
News about the alleged torture comes just days after Helen Berhane, an Eritrean Gospel singer jailed for singing about her faith in Christ since May 2004, was transferred to a hospital in Eritrea’s capital Asmara in a serious condition, BosNewsLife learned.
IN WHEELCHAIR
"Ms. Berhane, who showed signs of having suffered physical mistreatment, was seen in the hospital on a wheelchair," said Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a religious rights group supporting her, last week. She has reportedly not been allowed to receive visitors.
31-year-old Helen Berhane is a member of the Rhema Pentecostal Church and was incarcerated soon after releasing an album of gospel music popular among young Eritrean Christians. She is reported to have been held for extensive periods of time in shipping containers and underground cells at the Mai-Serwa military camp.
Eritrea’s government has denied human rights abuses saying that no groups or persons are persecuted in the country for their beliefs or religion and that people are free to worship according to their wish.
SHIPPING CONTAINERS
Human rights groups estimate there are 1,800 Christians, many of them evangelicals, in Eritrea who are held in prisons, military camps and shipping containers.
Eritrean President Isaias Afworki has been quoted as saying that 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."
Yet, since 2002 Eritrea’s government ordered the closure of all churches not belonging to the Orthodox, Roman Catholic or Evangelical Lutheran denominations. (With reports from Eritrea).
