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TechnoratiAfter five months in a tiny pitch-black cell, Hzkias, an Eritrean Christian jailed for his faith, said he “looked like another creature.”
“My hair and nails were long. My body color was yellow,” said the former prisoner, to U.K.-based Release International.
Hzkias, whose name has been changed for security reasons, was chained and kept in solitary confinement during his time in the Eritrean prison. Many prisoners, he recalled, had lost their mind after a few weeks living in such conditions.
After Hzkias was let out of his cell, he was caught handing out pages from the Bible and was brutally beaten by prison guards with batons. Although his leg was severely swollen, authorities had refused to give him medication.
“It’s by God’s grace and mercy that this body is now able to work properly,” he said.
Hzkias is among several persecuted Eritrean Christians who shared their testimony in the latest issue of Release magazine this week. The accounts were gathered during a recent fact-finding visit to refugee camps with Eritrean Christians.
Some 160,000 Eritreans have escaped to neighboring Sudan, over 20,000 have fled to Ethiopia, and several thousands have attempted to cross the Red Sea to Yemen.
“Christianity in Eritrea is very hard,” said Essay, a former youth pastor from the capital Asmara who is a refugee in Ethiopia, to Release. “All the senior pastors are in prison, with no attempt to bring them to the court for any reason. Simply they are put in jail. And all the Christians in Eritrea are suffering.”
Essay was himself jailed for 11 months. He described his prison in Asmara, the capital city, as “simply like living in an open toilet.” He said he almost died while being transferred to Wi’a on the Red Sea coast because of the lack of medication, food, and cold water along with the intense heat.
“I am grateful that God has given me a second chance,” Essay said. “God made a way out.”
In 1993, Eritrea installed its first president after a bitter struggle with the previous communist regime. Initially there were high hopes of a new democratic government, but those hopes were quickly dashed when former freedom fighter President Isaias Afewerki turned into a paranoid tyrant.
Authorities arrested citizens that criticized the government, withdrew the licenses of the country’s independent newspapers and arrested journalists. The arrested journalists and others detained have never been given a trial and are suspected to still be in prison today.
A recent report from Human Rights Watch has described Eritrea as “one giant prison.”
Then in 2002, the government announced that it would only recognize three churches: the Orthodox Church of Eritrea, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Lutheran-affiliated Evangelical Church of Eritrea.
Any other church would be considered illegal and must be closed.
There are many reports of authorities raiding Christian wedding ceremonies and arresting the guests as well as the bride and groom. Government personnel have also raided house church gatherings and many church leaders have been arrested.
At least 2,000 Christians are currently in prison simply because of their faith. Continue »
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