Whereabouts of Three Imprisoned Eritrea Pastors Remain Unknown
Family and friends of three Eritrean pastors who were arrested in May and moved to a "secret prison" in late August still await reliable information on the pastors’ whereabouts and well being, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) reported last week. Rev. Haile Naizgi, Dr. Kiflu Gebremeske, and Pastor Tesfatsion Hagos, who were arrested in May 23 and 26, have been held without charges and without communication with their families for more than two-and-a-half months.
According to reports, Naizgi and Gebremeske of the Full Gospel Church and Hagos of the Rema Evangelical Church were discovered missing the morning of Aug. 25 when families and friends of the men went to the respective police stations where the men have been imprisoned for the past three months without charges, but were informed by authorities that the men were no longer there.
Although family and friends of the imprisoned clergymen have not yet received reliable information on their whereabouts, some reports suggest that the pastors are now being held in a “dungeon-like inner prison” in Asmara, where many of Eritrea’s prominent political dissidents incarcerated over the past three years are believed to be held. According to Amnesty International, since President Issayas Afewerki cracked down on all political dissent in September 2001, thousands of Eritrean political prisoners have disappeared in such prisons.
As reported by the EFC, at least 400 are Eritrean evangelicals who have been imprisoned supposedly for "national security" reasons. The Eritrean government—which recognizes only Orthodox Christians, Catholics, Lutherans and Muslims as members of the nation’s historic, “official” religions—repeatedly and vehemently denies that anyone is imprisoned for religious reasons.
“Despite government warnings not to report on their suffering, the Eritrean evangelical community continues to release information to the international community, hoping their brothers and sisters around the world will pray for them, and governments that believe in freedom and justice will support them,” the EFC reported.
Among the Christian churches, only the Eritrean Orthodox, Eritrean Catholic and Eritrea's official Lutheran Churches are currently legal. All other denominations and independent fellowships are illegal, supposedly on grounds of “national security.”
Gebremeske and Naizgi, imprisoned since May 23, were key leaders in the Full Gospel Church, one of Eritrea's largest Pentecostal denominations. In addition, Gebremeske was also the chairman of the Eritrean Evangelical Alliance and a former Mathematics professor. Naizgi formerly worked as an accountant for World Vision. And Pastor Hagos, arrested on May 26, served in the Rema Evangelical Church. According to Compass News, all were not given a reason for their imprisonment, and were not charged with any legal offense.
In its International Religious Freedom Report for 2004, which was released on Sept. 15, the U.S. State Department said the Eritrean government's "poor respect for religious freedom for minority religious groups" had continued to decline.
"The government harassed, arrested, and detained members of Pentecostal and other independent evangelical groups," the State Department said. "There were also numerous reports of physical torture and attempts at forced recantations."
In the U.S. annual report, Eritrea was, for the first time, classified as “country of particular concern,” along with Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.
