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By Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net)
ASMARA, ERITREA (ANS – June 22, 2017) -- World Watch Monitor (www.worldwatchmonitor.org)
reports it has been ten years since government officials placed the
Eritrean Orthodox Patriarch, Abune Antonios, under house arrest, and 15
years since the forced closure of many churches.
The
number of Eritrean Christians arrested since the beginning of May has
risen to more than 120, according to charities Open Doors and Christian
Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
World
Watch Monitor first reported on the fresh wave of arrests on May 26, at
which stage over 90 people had been arrested. Now a further 22 arrests
have been confirmed at the end of May and the beginning of June.
The
agency said 17 Christian men were arrested in the Godaif neighborhood
of the capital, Asmara, on May 28. A further five Christians were taken
from their homes in Dongolo on June 6.
Open Doors reported that this brings the number to at least 121 since the beginning of May. CSW has the number at 122.
World
Watch Monitor says Evangelicals and Pentecostals have been at
particular risk in Eritrea since a 2002 law was passed prohibiting
Christian practice outside the Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical
Lutheran denominations, and also Sunni Islam.
The fresh wave of arrests began in the days leading up to Eritrea’s Independence Day, May 24.
“Many
Christians find themselves under added scrutiny around the time of
Independence Day celebrations because they are reluctant to participate
in ceremonies that go against their conscience,” the agency states.
A
source told World Watch Monitor that 49 Evangelicals were arrested
outside the capital, Asmara, on May 21 at a post-wedding celebration
called a “Hamauti,” which takes place a week after the wedding at the
home of the newly-weds and enables the parents-in-law, friends and other
relatives to eat, sing, dance and pray together. The couple, Tedro
Negel and his wife, in their late 20s, were among those arrested.
In
2002, Eritrea passed a law prohibiting Christian practice outside the
Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran denominations, and also
Sunni Islam.
On
May 17, security officials arrested more than 35 Christians from their
homes in Adi Quala, a market town 16 miles (25 km) from the Ethiopian
border, in the country’s Southern Region. They are being held in
different cells in the local police station. The arrests came after
security officials with representatives of the Orthodox Church started a
compulsory house-to-house search on May 15.
A
group consisting of an Orthodox Church official, an assistant, a local
administration officer and a security official visited all the homes in
Adi Quala. They told the residents they were verifying food vouchers,
but when residents presented their vouchers, the officials insisted that
all family members assemble and indicate whether they were Muslim,
Jehovah’s Witnesses, or members of the Orthodox Church, Lutheran Church,
Catholic Church or Pentecostal Church. The next day the security
officers went door to door in Adi Quala to arrest all who indicated that
they were Pentecostals.
A
source told World Watch Monitor that similar searches were conducted in
several parts of the Central Region, adding: “Those who identified
themselves as Pentecostals in the Central Region have not been arrested
but the level of fear amongst the believers has greatly increased.”
On
May 9, officials arrested ten Christians from a home in Ginda,
north-east of Asmara. Sources said neighbors had reported to local
leaders in the town that Christians were holding meetings there.
World
Watch Monitor explained that since the 2002 law, members of outlawed
churches have taken to meeting in secret in people’s homes, but are
targeted by the authorities. Over the past 15 years, countless homes
have been raided and local sources estimate that hundreds of Christians
are being held for long periods in Eritrea’s prisons, while thousands
have been held for shorter periods.
Christian
Solidarity Worldwide has listed at least 28 Christians who have died
during their incarceration or shortly after their release as a result of
their harsh treatment in prison or of the withholding of medical
treatment to religious prisoners.
CSW
said Christians who have been imprisoned recount facing torture, hard
labor and being held in filthy conditions and given insufficient food.
Some have been held in metal shipping containers -- and although
researchers at Open Doors said they are not aware of any Christians
currently held in shipping containers, journalists and opposition
politicians are held in those. They continue to face extreme heat during
the day, freezing temperatures at night, and a lack of oxygen, hygiene
and privacy.
Many
Christians who are jailed are released only after admitting to having
broken the law that prohibits Christians from gathering outside
registered and recognized groups, World Watch Monitor states.
Sources
explain that, depending on the prison head at each location, prisoners
are asked to sign one of two agreements. Either they promise not to
engage in unlicensed religious activities, which many are happy to sign,
or they are asked to renounce their allegiance to Christ. Those who
refuse to sign can be held for years, even decades.
Eritrea
is ranked as the tenth most difficult country in which to be a
Christian, according to the 2017 Open Doors World Watch List (https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/what-is-world-watch-list).
Photo captions: 1) Eritrean Orthodox Patriarch, Abune Antonios. 2) Map of Eritrea. 3) Michael Ireland.
About
the Writer: Michael Ireland is a volunteer internet journalist serving
as Chief Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, as well as an
Ordained Minister who has served with ASSIST Ministries and written for
ANS since its beginning in 1989. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica,
Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China, and Russia. Please consider
helping Michael cover his expenses in bringing news of the Persecuted
Church, by logging-on to: https://actintl.givingfuel.com/ireland-michael
** You may republish this or any of our ANS stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net).
Please also tell your friends and colleagues that they can get a
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there.
Anita,
and four-year-olds Alvaro Sinaga and Trinity Hutahaean, had been
playing after Sunday school in the grounds of their church in Samarinda,
East Borneo, on November 13, 2016. The suspect, Juhanda bin Muhammad
Aceng, reportedly threw the bomb into the church grounds as the children
waited for their parents to come out after the end of the service. He
was reportedly wearing a black T-shirt with the message, “Jihad Way of
Life.”
Traumatized,
the children’s families are struggling to rebuild their lives as they
come to terms with a mixture of anger and guilt, World Watch Monitor
says.
World
Watch Monitor says all three children have been discharged from
hospital, but Trinity and Alvaro, whose injuries were especially severe
and complex, continue to undergo treatment as outpatients.
According
to the World Watch Monitor article, the children are afraid of meeting
new people and looking at things that can reflect their faces back at
them, but they are learning to regain their self-esteem.
About
the Writer: Michael Ireland is a volunteer internet journalist serving
as Chief Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, as well as an
Ordained Minister who has served with ASSIST Ministries and written for
ANS since its beginning in 1989. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica,
Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China, and Russia. Please consider
helping Michael cover his expenses in bringing news of the Persecuted
Church, by logging-on to: 
