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Christianity Today, December, 2007 |

Tortured to Death in Eritrea

Fourth Protestant in a year killed by government forces.

Jeff M. Sellers, Compass Direct | posted 11/09/2007 09:04AM

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Government authorities tortured a woman to death on September 5 for refusing to deny her evangelical faith. It was the fourth such killing in less than a year, according to a Christian support organization.

Citing Christian sources in the East African nation, Open Doors reported that 33-year-old Nigsti Haile was killed for refusing to sign a letter renouncing her faith. Held at the Wi'a military training center 20 miles south of the Red Sea port of Massawa, Haile was one of 10 single Christian women arrested at an independent church gathering in Keren. The women have spent 18 months under severe pressure.

Eritrea officially recognizes only Orthodox, Catholic, and Lutheran Christian churches. In May 2002, it outlawed independent Protestant churches, closing their buildings and banning them from meeting in private homes. Haile was a member of a Rhema church.

Earlier this year, on February 15, Magos Solomon Semere died under torture at the Adi-Nefase military confinement facility outside Assab, four and a half years after the Eritrean regime jailed him for worshiping in a banned Protestant church. And last October 17, Immanuel Andegergesh, 23, and Kibrom Firemichel, 30, were arrested for holding a religious service in a private home south of Asmara. Two days later, they died from torture wounds and severe dehydration in a military camp outside the town of Adi-Quala.

Eritrea is the only country under commercial sanctions by the U.S. for its restrictions on religious liberty and has been deemed a "country of particular concern" by the State Department since 2004.

Eritrea's government currently imprisons more than 2,000 independent Christians. All have been denied legal counsel or trial, with no written charges filed against them.

Related Elsewhere:

Eritrea's conflicts with Ethiopia have raised speculation about war.

Compass Direct reported in September that the Eritrean government had ordered all Protestant assets confiscated.

Other Christianity Today articles on Eritrea are available in our full-coverage news section.

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December 2007, Vol. 51, No. 12

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Christian Eritrean

Posted: November 09, 2007 4:07 PM

This ballony, nonsens to me. No torture in Eritrea. report on Abu Graib or Guantanomo if you are truly intereted in educating about religously-motivated toruture. There is no such thing as "Adi-Nefase military confinement facility outside Assab" or we never heard of "a military camp outside the town of Adi-Quala." FACTS: 1) All enter and intra-religious mayhem occur on Eritrea's immediate neighbors only (Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda) but you LOVE to vilify Eritrea 2) The fact you focus on "Christian repression" reflects your thinly veiled political bias and fanaticism against non-christian religions 3) Eritrea is a cradle of Christianity. Yet, at the same time, manages to live in complete harmony with its muslim citizens. So your constant vilifying is a classic case of a kettle calling a pot black. I'm sure you'll be judged by Christ for your lies and crimes one day.

Haben

Posted: November 09, 2007 11:43 AM


It is not of concern to Eritreans as a whole, so why is it of concern to you?

bella

Posted: November 09, 2007 4:56 PM

Haben, Cultural Patriot Thank you for this insight into the thinking that has caused a dear fried of mine; kind, gentle and working selflessly to help the people around him, to be thrown into prison (for the very beliefs that have caused him to be kind and selfless). After reading this I understand that Eritrea views him as a disease to be wiped out. We dehumanize what we fear but there are faces and families attached to what is happening in Eritrea. No one wants you to lose your cultural identity. If our cultures, either yours or those in Western nations, are not strong enough in themselves to withstand the cultures we come into contact with, then what does that say about our cultures? The Eritreans are an amazing people with a proud heritage - this is stronger than any influence they may feel coming from someone holding a Christian belief. Christians can't hurt you but the fear that they will can destroy the very culture you are attmpting to save.