Eritrea Pressured To Release 7 Church Leaders Jailed For Decades (Worthy News In-Depth)

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

ASMARA, ERITREA (Worthy News) – Christian advocacy groups are intensifying calls for Eritrea to release seven church leaders who have been held without trial for more than two decades.

The men are reportedly confined at the Wengel Mermera Criminal Investigation Centre, a maximum-security facility in the capital, Asmara, described by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) as one of Eritrea’s “atrocious” prisons.

Among those detained since November 2004 are Orthodox priests Gebremedhin Gebregiorgis, Futsum Gebrenegus, and Tekleab Menghisteab, who were active in a renewal movement within the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

Despite belonging to one of only four state-recognized faiths, the priests faced harassment under President Isaias Afwerki, who has ruled since independence in 1993, Christians said.

The prolonged detentions have devastated families. Gebrenegus lost both his wife and father while imprisoned. Gebregiorgis’ wife, Tsegeweyni Mekonnen Haile, died of cancer in June 2022, leaving behind her husband and their three children.

Menghisteab, a respected physician at St. Mary Psychiatric Hospital in Asmara at the time of his arrest, saw his wife and three daughters flee Eritrea for their safety.

PASTORS TARGETED

Also imprisoned since 2004 are Pastors Haile Naizge, then chairman of the Full Gospel Church, and Kuflu Gebremeskel, then chairman of the Eritrean Evangelical Alliance and a visiting university lecturer.

Naizge’s mother was seriously ill at the time of his arrest and died without being allowed to see her son again.

His wife, Rahel, and their three children were eventually forced to flee and found refuge in North America. Gebremeskel, last seen during guarded hospital visits in 2021, is believed to remain incommunicado at Wengel Mermera.

Another detainee, Pastor Million Gebreselassie—also known as Merond—was arrested in June 2004 while serving as an anesthetist and church leader in the port city of Massawa. Christians said he was initially held at a local police station and later transferred to Wengel Mermera.

In 2005, the Rev. Kidane Weldou, a senior pastor in Asmara and member of Gideons International, a group dedicated to distributing Bibles and New Testaments, was forcibly disappeared on the streets of the capital. Weldou, a married father of four daughters, has not been seen publicly since.

He is widely believed to be among those held at Wengel Mermera.

GLOBAL CAMPAIGN

As details of their detention emerged, Christian groups announced global protests and prayer events around Friday’s International Day Commemorating Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief.

The Religious Liberty Partnership (RLP), a coalition of Christian organizations in 20 nations, said its first worldwide campaign under the hashtag #Voices4Justice is uniting churches and individuals across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, and Oceania to pray and call for the leaders’ release.

Events include a rally on Thursday in Washington, D.C., led by 21Wilberforce, Set My People Free, and Christian Freedom International. Beginning at 11 a.m. local time at the Dupont Circle Fountain, participants will march to the Eritrean Embassy to pray and urge the leaders’ release.

Also on Thursday, Christian Solidarity Worldwide scheduled a peaceful protest outside the Eritrean Embassy in London, while in Brazil, the MAIS group plans an online prayer event.

HMK Switzerland (Hilfe für Mensch und Kirche) organized a peaceful protest outside the Eritrean Embassy in Geneva on Friday. The National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka will host an online prayer event in Colombo, while additional online gatherings are set in Nigeria by CSW Nigeria and in Texas by Freedom Seekers International.

Open Doors is mounting advocacy campaigns in France, Italy, Denmark, Canada, and Sweden. Additional efforts are planned by Set My People Free in Sweden, Voice of the Martyrs Canada and Poland, International Christian Response (ICR), and others in the United States.

RESTRICTIONS ON RELIGION

Eritrea recognizes only four religious groups: the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Sunni Islam, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea.

All other groups must register, but no new registrations have been approved since 2002, according to the U.S. State Department.

About 51 percent of Eritrea’s 6.3 million people identify as Sunni Muslims, 41 percent as Orthodox Christians, and 5 percent as Roman Catholics.

The remaining population includes Protestants, other Christians, Baha’is, Shi’a Muslims, traditional religion adherents, atheists, and unaffiliated groups, USCIRF noted.

Christian leaders warn that the ongoing imprisonment of these seven men underscores Eritrea’s broader crackdown on religious freedom and the urgent need for international pressure.

Eritrea ranks sixth on the annual World Watch List of 50 nations where Open Doors says Christians face the most severe persecution, just behind North Korea, followed by Somalia (2), Yemen (3), Libya (4), and Sudan (5).

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