Eritrea: Persecution intensifies and widens
by Elizabeth Kendal
March 13, 2007
AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- In May 2002 some 20,000 Protestant Christians found themselves in churches that had become illegal when the Eritrean government banned all Christian churches other than the Eritrean Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Mekane Yesus (Evangelical Lutheran) denominations. Initially the Orthodox Church supported the repression. However, during 2004, youths and then priests from the Orthodox Church's Medhane Alem renewal movement started to get arrested. The Patriarch protested, so the government intensified its attacks on the Orthodox Church.In August 2005, to counter the Orthodox Church's growing opposition, the Eritrean government deposed Patriarch Abune Antonios and put him under house arrest. To get more control over the church the government appointed Yeftehe Dimetros as church administrator. On 5 December 2006 it then ruled that all tithes collected through the Orthodox Church be deposited in a government account from which it would control church finances and pay priests. The government will also set a quota for priests and any 'extra' priests are to present for military service.
Aid organisations are also targeted. On 4 December 2006, nine Samaritan's Purse aid workers were arrested a month after the organisation had been ordered to leave the country.
On 4 January 2007 military commanders at the national Sawa Military Centre conducted what they termed a 'random check-up on the activities of Christian extremists' among teenage student conscripts. Some 250 Bibles, the personal property of Christian students, were confiscated and burnt. Thirty-five Christian teenage conscripts were then singled out for deterrent 'severe punishment' which included torture as routine. Today more than 2,000 Eritrean Christians are incarcerated in appalling conditions for their faith.
On 15 February 2007 Magos Solomon Semere (30) died in the Adi-Nefase Military Confinement facility just outside Assab. Compass Direct reports that his death was 'due to physical torture and persistent pneumonia, for which he was forbidden proper medical treatment'. Semere (when 23) had been arrested in August 2000 and served 18 months for his evangelism. Three months after his release in July 2002 Semere, just engaged to be married, was re-arrested for worshipping in a banned Protestant fellowship. During his four-and-a-half-year imprisonment Semere was refused permission to see his fiancee. When he became seriously ill he was told he would get medical treatment only if he renounced his faith. Having already endured extreme hardship and extensive torture Semere elected to persevere and go to his Lord rather than renounce him. Semere is the third Christian to die in custody due to torture since October 2006.
In 2001 the government imprisoned all its opposition and closed all private media. Eritreans risk their lives and liberty to leak this information so we can pray and advocate for them.
On 23 February Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki met with a European Union delegation. The president indicated that Eritrea needs support in its efforts to ensure security of food supplies and to develop infrastructure. He said his government would welcome any party that wishes to assist Eritrea 'without strings attached'. According to Eritrea's Ministry of Information the European Commission delegation expressed readiness to co-operate.
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY FOR -
- the courageous Eritrean Christians, human rights and democracy advocates who risk their lives to give us this information about the persecution of the Church in Eritrea.
- the courageous Eritrean Christians continuing to meet for prayer, Bible study, teaching, worship and fellowship; may God protect and preserve them.
'Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who assail me, from my mortal enemies who surround me.' (Psalm 17:8,9)
- revival to keep spreading through the Orthodox Church, and that Christian unity will be a real and lasting fruit of this persecution.
- God to intervene in the political situation in Eritrea by: working through European influences; delivering judgment and removing evil forces (Psalm 17:10-14); delivering grace and revealing his salvation to those in authority (Galatians 1:23).
Elizabeth Kendal is the Principal Researcher and Writer for the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC).© 2007 ASSIST News Service, used with permission.
