| 20th
July, 2006
STEFAN BOS
BosNewsLife.com
Three
major advocacy groups have given the Eritrean embassy in London
a petition signed by over 100,000 people demanding the release
of Christians jailed for their faith.
"At
least around 1,800 Christians have been locked away
by the military government in Eritrea which Open Doors
said "mistakenly associates evangelical Christianity
with political dissent."
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The
petition was handed over by officials from Open Doors, Christian
Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) and Release International. According
ot Open Doors, the three organizations, who say they serve
persecuted Christians around the world, wanted to "demonstrate
the strength of concern of Christians in the United Kingdom".
At least around 1,800 Christians have been locked away by
the military government in Eritrea which Open Doors said "mistakenly
associates evangelical Christianity with political dissent."
Investigators
and others have claimed some of the Christians have been locked
away in camps or metal shipping containers in the searing
heat of the desert.
More than 109,000 people have signed the petition calling
on Eritrea to set them free, and of these, around 73,000 signatures
were obtained from Open Doors supporters.
Eritrea's government has denied human rights abuses, saying
that no groups or persons are persecuted in the country for
their beliefs or religion.
President Isaias Afworki has been quoted as saying that several
religious groups have been "duped by foreigners"
who sought to "distract from the unity of the Eritrean
people and distort the true meaning of religion". Critics
say the government's version of religion often leads to tensions,
especially with Christians who actively express their faith
in Christ.
Eddie Lyle, chief executive officer for Open Doors in the
United Kingdom and Ireland, says that "the fact that
the Eritrean government denies the existence of religious
persecution in their country is one of the main reasons for
the petition".
"We want the Eritrean authorities to know that Christians
in the UK are standing alongside their imprisoned brothers
and sisters in Christ."
Open
Doors has urged supporters to “pray that the petition
handed to the Eritrean ambassador to the UK will make the
Eritrean authorities realize that they cannot brush their
current human rights abuses under the carpet".
Since May of 2002, the Eritrean government banned all Christian
churches independent of the Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran
communities, although rights watchers claim that even 'official'
churches are increasingly persecuted.
News reports have claimed that Eritrean Christians who fled
to a refugee camp in neighboring Ethiopia have described being
beaten and tortured. Some had been sentenced to hard labor
or held underground in total darkness for days, according
to investigators.
Eritrea has closed evangelical churches and is keeping known
Christians under close surveillance. Many have been ordered
to sign a letter recanting their faith, Open Doors and other
groups claim. In addition, some Christian refugees have been
reportedly forced to leave their wives and children behind
faced with an alternative of indefinite detention.
Andy
Dipper, Release International’s chief executive, says
the groups want to make Eritrea "aware of the strength
of feeling in the UK" and are petiuoning the ambasssador
to "ask his government to investigate the plight of Christians
imprisoned in his country for their faith."
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