Saturday, July 23, 2005
ERITREANS CALL FOR A 'DAY OF CHRISTIAN PRISONERS' ON AUGUST 5
Pope Benedict XVI Petitioned To Use His Position To Secure Detainees' Release
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
ERITREA (ANS) -July 23, 2005 - Eritrean Christians are calling for a worldwide day of prayer and fasting for Christian prisoners in Eritrea on August 5. And two Eritrean brothers have petitioned Pope Benedict XI calling on the Pontiff to use his good offices to secure the "release of illegally detained Eritreans."
A 'Day of Christian Prisoners' has been organized by www.Erishalom.com, a website run by a coalition of Eritrean Christians, some of whom work underground in Eritrea, while others are living abroad.
On the website, Eritrean Christians state: "With the help of the Living Almighty God whom we serve, three years has passed since Erishalom Eritrean #1 Gospel Website began serving Eritrean Church worldwide.
"On this special day, we are calling all to pray and fast for Christians and Ministers of the gospel who are behind bars of Eritrean Prisons.
"Through the information we are getting everyday, and the kind of torment our brethren are passing through for long period with out justice. we have learnt that the condition of Christians who are detained is getting worse and worse.
"Therefore, we are calling all to join on 5th of August 2005 in prayer and fasting with Churches found worldwide, and with different Humanitarian organizations, in one spirit."
In a letter to the international Christian community, the organizers expressed their urgent need for help from the worldwide church.
They said: "Throughout the Bible, whenever Christians are in any kind of difficult situation, the whole Church would pray as one without ceasing." They have requested similar action on behalf of Eritrea’s detained Christians.
A Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) fact-finding team that visited Eritrean refugees in a neighboring African country heard graphic testimonies of the severe punishments meted out to any Christians in the armed forces who are caught praying or are found in possession of Bibles or other Christian material.
CSW reports seeing several women who spoke of experiencing problems with their wombs following extended beatings and other maltreatment. Some refugees told of being placed for several months in special punishment units, including one known as a 'shella,' which is a two meter by two meter cell that has no light.
At least one person is reported to have been left in a cramped punishment room for so long that his legs no longer function. Several people informed CSW that they had been told their punishment would end if they recanted their faith.
According to reports received by Eritrean writer Habtoum Yohannes, prison authorities are now offering to release Christians on condition that they sign a document entitled 'I Won't Shine,' in which they promise not to engage in any church-related activities.
CSW says that in 2002 the government ordered the closure of all churches that were not affiliated to the Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran or Orthodox denominations, and ended all other religious practices except Islam.
Some 500 Christians are currently imprisoned in Eritrea. The most recent arrests occurred on July 8, when 18 Christian college students from Halhale College in the capital Asmara were detained as they left examination halls after their final exams.
In a separate incident, Christian university Professor Semere Zayid, was re-arrested on July 6. In February Professor Zayid had been detained for four weeks and released, but was obliged to report to the police at regular intervals.
CSW says: "Many Eritrean Christians have been mistreated in detention as the authorities have sought to force them to renounce their faith. Persecution is particularly acute within the armed forces where Christian gatherings and reading the Bible have been forbidden since the mid-1990s."
Recent reports from Eritrea also indicate that the authorities may be arresting the families of young people who have managed to flee the country. According to a report posted on an Eritrean website, eyewitnesses have told of the arrests of 700 to 800 parents and relatives, and of people being
'dragged into army trucks' by officials who insist that they are responsible for the actions of their children.
Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW, said: "The treatment of Christians and many others in Eritrea today is morally outrageous. The wider church must heed the call for help from our Eritrean family to stand with them in prayer."
In the meantime, the long march from Geneva to Rome of two Eritrean brothers seeking to highlight the plight of Eritrean prisoners is nearing its conclusion. Tekle and Samuel Gebregiorgis were set to arrive in Vatican City, where they presented a petition to Pope Benedict XI calling on the Pontiff to use his good offices to secure the 'release of illegally detained Eritreans.'
The petition also calls on the Pope to urge key members and bodies of the international community 'to set up an independent commission to inspect the conditions in all the official and unofficial detention centers in the country.'
The full text of the petition says: "In Eritrea today thousands of people find themselves in prisons and detention centers throughout the country without due process of law. They are neither formally charged nor given the opportunity to defend themselves in a court of law.
"All basic and fundamental freedoms; freedom of thought, expression, association and worship are severely curbed. People are arbitrarily snatched from the streets, their work place, their homes and their place of worship for unknown reasons and detained incommunicado for an unspecified length of time.
"There are countless prisons around the country many have never been designed for the purpose and therefore are not equipped with necessary facilities. Prison camps and holding places can be:
"-- Dangerously and fatally overcrowded; as did happen in Adi-abeyto, where compounds that have no sanitation and no form of protection from the harsh climatic conditions are used to hold thousands indiscriminately.
"-- Unfit for human habitation; this includes shipment containers that get oven hot during the day in the sub-Saharan temperatures and freezing cold at night. Prisoners are only ever allowed out for a maximum of 20 min a day to relieve themselves. Nearly all prisons in the country lack appropriate sanitation facilities putting prisoners at risk of deadly infectious diseases.
"-- Appropriate medical care is not available; prescription dependent prisoners have been deprived of medication. Those prisoners with long-term medical conditions are particularly at risk as appropriate follow up and care is not forthcoming. Even the elderly and vulnerable are held under these harsh conditions.
"-- Some of the camps are hard labor prison camps, where inmates are required to be engaged in highly demanding physical work without appropriate monitoring, equipments or even enough food. Malnutrition is a persistent hazard. A distinction is not made between those who are physically able and those that are not, those who are physically and medically unfit are not shown any discretions.
"-- Those who die in detention are buried unceremoniously and their loved ones are seldom informed.
"-- International and national human rights organizations are not allowed any form of independent monitoring."
The petition continues: "Article 19 of the Eritrean Constitution allows for freedom of conscience, religion, movement, assembly, organization and expression of opinion. Moreover, in Article 17, the Constitution stipulates the right to a fair and public trial, the presumption of innocence and the right of appeal. It also states that anyone arrested should be brought before a court of law within 48 hours of their arrest, while the Eritrean Penal Code states that once arrested, a person should be charged within 28 days or released."
It adds: "Eritrea has also acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, all of which contain provisions for basic human rights that are being trampled by the appalling situation stated above.
The petition concludes: "We, undersigned, therefore ask your Holiness to use your good offices to bear pressure on the Eritrean Authorities to release all illegally detained Eritreans and to also urge the international community, the UN Security Council, the European Union and the government of the United States of America to set up and send an independent Commission to inspect the conditions in all the official and unofficial detention centres in the country."
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For more details, please visit: http://www.dhnet-eritrawian.co/ . The petition can be found at: www.PetitionOnline.com/FreeErit/