883 evangelical and charismatic Christians have been detained within the last three years in Eritrea, a young one-party East African state.

It should have been the happiest day of his life: 28 May 2005, the wedding day of Benyam Gezae. 250 guests have gathered in the festively decorated Kewa hall in Asmara. As the celebrations are in full swing, the doors of the hall are suddenly thrust open and armed, uniformed men march in and spread out among the guests, who sit in stunned silence. Then the commanding voice of the police commissioner rips through the silence: All those present are under arrest, including the bride and groom!

The joyful celebrations end abruptly, intimidated guests are bussed to the police station at Asmara airport. The next day, police contact relatives of the detained to establish whether they belong to a registered church. The wedding couple and 70 of their guests remain under arrest, since they are members of a forbidden church, the ‘Meserete Kristos’.

Pastor under arrest, singer held in metal hut

In May 2002 all religious denominations, with the exception of Islam, the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Catholic and the Lutheran Churches, were ordered to seek official state registration. As a result, twelve smaller denominations, totaling about 20,000 members were effectively made illegal, and their meetings banned. Even the possession of a Bible became sufficient grounds for arrest. The severity of persecution was left to the discretion of the authorities. In the three years since this measure came into force, 883 Christians belonging to ‘illegal’ denominations are known to have been arrested. Additionally, 16 leading Christian pastors have been thrown into jail, among them Rev. Haile Naizgi, leader of Eritrea’s largest Pentecostal church, Dr. Kifle Gebremeskel, chairman of the Eritrean Evangelical Alliance, and Rev. Tesfatsion Hagos, pastor of the Evangelical Rema church in Asmara. Christian singer Helen Berhane is still being held without charge in a metal hut at Mai-Serwa military camp, north of Asmara. In order to gain their freedom, the prisoners must renounce their evangelical faith and undertake not to attend small evangelical gatherings. Most of them refuse.

Persecution in spite of official recognition

In contrast, the Eritrean Orthodox Church enjoys state approval. But even this is confined only to the official Orthodox Church. According to Christian press service Compass Direct, members of the Medani-Alem-Alliance revival movement within the Orthodox Church also face arrest. Accordingly, three revivalist Orthodox priests disappeared into detention on March 13. They are Dr. Futsum Kuluberhand , Dr. Tekleab Mengisteab and Rev. Gebremedhin Georgis.

When Orthodox Patriarch Abune Antonios protested at government interference in church affairs, his Christmas radio message was cancelled. Even the Catholic Church is not entirely unmolested. On January 9, 25 members of a Catholic wedding party were arrested and held at Police station no. 1 in Asmara.

Cause for Concern

In Eritrea, the governing People’s Front for Democracy and Justice is the only authorized party. The party - formerly a Marxist –Leninist national liberation movement - led Eritrea to independence in 1991 after a lengthy civil war. Issayas Afewerki has been President ever since. There have been no free elections in Eritrea. Opposition parties are prohibited, even though a multi-party system was foreseen in the 1997 constitution. In 2001 all independent press organs were banned and 15 prominent journalists disappeared behind bars. Former followers of Aferwerki are also currently in prison. Eritrea is listed as a ‘Country of Special Concern’ in the US State Department’s annual human rights report.