Washington , DC Demonstration against Christian Persecution in Eritrea

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(October 26, 2007) The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.www.persecution.org has learned that a group of Eritrean expatriates are going to hold a demonstration in Washington D.C., on October 29, 2007, to demand an end to the killings, imprisonment and harassment of Christians and others who are being persecuted due to their religious beliefs in Eritrea.

The demonstrators will gather at the Dupont Circle North Metro Station at 10:00am on October 29, and will head towards the Eritrean Embassy, which is located at 1708 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington , DC 20009. Their next stop will be the State Department where they will appeal to State Department officials to take measures to ensure the respect of human rights in Eritrea . ICC urges Christians living around the Washington area to join the demonstrators and express their solidarity with the thousands of Christians suffering in Eritrea .

The Demonstration is being organized by United Eritreas, an umbrella group that brings together various Eritrean political organizations, human rights activists, civic societies and individuals concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation in this horn of African country.

The demonstration is aimed at highlighting of Eritrea ’s consistent harassment of its citizens by detaining them indefinitely, its support to terrorist organizations and the egregious violations of freedom of religion in Eritrea . The Eritrean government is known to be one of the most severe abusers of religious freedom in the world. Currently there are about 2,000 Christians languishing in Eritrean prisons under very harsh condition.

Although Christians constitute half of the population of Eritrean, the Marxist regime of Eritrea is not allowing them to worship freely. Dr. Berhane Asmelash of Release Eritrea told ICC in an interview, “The situation of Christians in Eritrea is getting worse. Besides imprisoning Christians, the regime is also closing businesses owned by evangelical Christians.”

Dr. Asmelash also informed ICC that Christians are kept in shipping containers and routinely tortured. Among many Christians kept in prison in the port of town of Assab , five have died of starvation, according to Dr. Asmelash. There are also cases where Christians lost sight due to solitary confinement over a long period of time in dark rooms.

Helen Berhane, a member of a Pentecostal Church , was detained for more than two years simply because of her faith in Christ. In a recent interview she gave to the BBC, she stated, “I was beaten up from the day I entered prison until I left prison.” Currently in exile in Denmark , Ms. Berhane is unable to walk due to the beatings.

ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa , Darara Gubo, said, “The Eritrean government should not be allowed to continue to perpetrate egregious violations of freedom of worship. It is time for the international community to take measures to ensure that freedom of religion is respected in Eritrea . Christians living in the West should be more involved in helping their brothers and sisters suffering in Eritrea . They should call on their governments to ensure respect for freedom of worship in Eritrea . They should also take part in demonstrations and other advocacy work to bring the plight of Eritrean Christians to an end.”