Compass Direct has reported on a crackdown on Protestant Christians in Eritrea during February and March. A total of 170 Protestant Christians have been jailed, beaten and threatened with death by Eritrean security forces.
According to a report received on April 9, in five separate incidents, police barged into worship services and a wedding ceremony to jail men, women and children for practicing what government officials called "a new religion."
Although no formal charges have been filed, those jailed were held in cramped, suffocating cells for up to two weeks for refusing to return to the historically dominant Orthodox Church faith. One group endured 15 days in metal containers designed as severe punishment cells. Another congregation witnessed its pastor being tortured and humiliated in the jail yard. When relatives posted bail for their release, they were forced to sign a statement acknowledging that if a bailed prisoner was caught meeting in public or private with more than three others, he would be liable for execution.
Seventy-four soldiers remain in a military prison near the southern port city of Assab. They were arrested in February 2002 for refusing to recant their personal religious beliefs and return to the Orthodox Church.
Pray for a strength and peace from the Holy Spirit for those suffering for their religious convictions in Eritrea. Pray that those in prison will soon be released.
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