Monday, November 7, 2005

HELP STOP ERITREAN PERSECUTION!
Petition Drive Starts For 1,700 Imprisoned Christians

OPEN DOORS USA
Jerry Dykstra, Media Relations Coordinator
Phone: 616-915-4117
E-mail: JerryD@odusa.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA ANA, CA (ANS) -- The persecution of evangelical Christians in the eastern African country of Eritrea continues unabated.

Currently 26 full-time pastors and over 1,700 Eritrean Christians are known to be held in prisons, military confinement camps and shipping containers for meeting secretly for prayer and worship outside government-approved churches, according to Compass Direct.

Since May 2002, the government has refused to legalize religious groups outside the Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran and Muslim faiths. More recently, members of both legal and unregistered Protestant churches have been arrested. The persecution is intensifying as it includes more Protestant faiths.

According to Compass Direct, in late September three Protestant leaders imprisoned months ago by Eritrean authorities were handed jail sentences of two and three years by kangaroo courts, all conducted by a committee of military commanders.

The extrajudicial prison sentences were given to Full Gospel Pastor Kidane Gebremeskel, three years; Eritrea University Prof. Senere Zaid of the Living God Church, two years; and Full Gospel Pastor Fanuel Mihreteab, two years.

As a result of the growing persecution in Eritrea, Open Doors USA is launching a petition drive called E-Petition for Eritrea. The petition urges Congress and the Department of State to continue to work to put a stop to the violation of basic religious freedoms committed by the Eritrean government. Christians in the USA can sign this petition by going to the Eritrea campaign page www.odusa.org/AdvocacyCampaign.

“The situation continues to deteriorate for Christians in Eritrea,” says Open Doors USA President Dr. Carl A. Moeller. “Over the past six months the number of Christians imprisoned for their faith has doubled. Some of them, including young people, are locked in shipping containers placed in the hot sun.

“Please join with me in praying for these imprisoned brothers and sisters in Christ. Open Doors USA is also stepping up its advocacy on their behalf by urging Christians in the West to sign this petition to put pressure on the Eritrean government to give religious freedom to all worshippers.”

On September 23, Eritrea became the first nation ever sanctioned by the U.S. State Department under the 1998 Religious Freedom Act for failure to address severe violations of religious freedom.

Accusing the United States of “orchestrating a game of ‘religious politics,’” the Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed in an October 5 statement that reports of religious persecution in Eritrea were based on false allegations, exaggeration and “baseless fabrication,” according to Compass.

An estimated 200 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with another 200 to 400 million facing discrimination and alienation. Open Doors, celebrating 50 years of service to the Persecuted Christians in 2005, serves and strengthens the Persecuted Church in the world's most difficult areas through Bible and Christian literature distribution, leadership training and assistance, Christian community development, prayer and presence ministry and advocacy on behalf of suffering believers. To partner with Open Doors, call toll free at 888-5-BIBLE-5 (524-2535) or go to our USA Web site at www.opendoorsusa.org. To request a complimentary six-month subscription to our monthly newsletter Frontline Faith, call 888-5-BIBLE-5 or register on-line.