Christian Woman Dies in Eritrean Detention center
By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent
ASMARA, Eritrea (Worthy News)– After two weeks of torture, Seble Hagos Mebrahtu, 27, died in the military training center in Sawa, Eritrea, on January 1. Reportedly, Mebrahtu was refused medical treatment for malaria and died soon after. Although it was unclear as to how long she was imprisoned in Sawa, sources state she was arrested for reading a Bible in her own bedroom.
Mebrahtu is the sixteenth reported death of a Christian in one of Eritrea’s most notorious detention facilities since a government crackdown in 2002 banned and criminalized all churches outside of the state approved Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran and Islamic traditions.
A week after Christmas, 41 members of the Philadelphia Church were arrested and taken to Police Station Number 1 where they were beaten, and on new year’s Day, members from various underground churches near Asmara were taken into custody by Eritrean Security and incarcerated at Police Station Number 5.
An independent source revealed that 35 Evangelicals were arrested in the town of Nakfa from the home of one of the believers as they were holding a worship service on January 9.
Eritrea is listed as number 12 on the 2011 World Watch List.