On May 28, an evangelical wedding was raided by Eritrean police and guests were taken into custody (click here for details). According to Release Eritrea, seventy Christians detained at that wedding have recently been moved to one of the hottest places on earth, at a desert detention camp in Wia near the port city of Massawa. The camp is routinely used to punish young people, as temperatures in the area often reach 49 degrees Celsius. Two young people died in 2001 from heat stroke.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide also reports that one Christian has apparently died as a result of the torture he endured in an Eritrean prison. Kelati Awalom, a member of the Rhema Church, was arrested for a third time on March 17, 2004 and was detained for three months, along with two of his daughters. According to reports, he was beaten until he was partially paralyzed. After his release, he continued to suffer the effects of the beating until he died at his home on July 24, 2005.
Eritrea is one of the world's worst violators of human rights. Only three Christian denominations (Lutheran, Orthodox and Roman Catholic) are legally registered with the government. Anyone belonging to a different denomination or independent church risks harassment, prison and torture. Continue to pray for the hundreds of Eritrean believers suffering for their faith in detention camps around the country, where they are sometimes locked in metal shipping containers in the desert sun with limited food and water.
For more information on the severe persecution facing Eritrean believers, click here. The Voice of the Martyrs Canada has two separate video reports filmed on location in Eritrea available on our multimedia website, https://www.vomcanada.com/.
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