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| Africa Horn |
| Eritrean Moslems Debate With Eritrean Christians About Religion |
| 2006-10-25 |
| From Compass Direct Eritrean security police tortured two Christians to death yesterday, two days after arresting them for holding a religious service in a private home south of Asmara. .... Immanuel Andegergesh, 23, and Kibrom Firemichel, 30, died from torture wounds and severe dehydration in a military camp outside the town of Adi-Quala, eyewitnesses told Compass. The military buried the two unmarried men yesterday in the southern Eritrean town near the Ethiopian border, where they had been performing their military service. Andegergesh and Firemichel were arrested on Sunday (October 15), along with 10 other Christians, while attending a worship service in the home of Teklezgi Asgerdom. The three women and seven men, all members of the evangelical Rema Church, were kept in military confinement, along with Andegergesh and Firemichel, and subjected to “furious mistreatment,” one source said. The fate of the 10 other Christians remains unknown. Earlier this month, Eritrean authorities returned popular Christian singer Helen Berhane to military detention after she spent three days in Asmara’s Halibet Hospital for medical treatment. Berhane’s leg was seriously damaged as a result of beatings she received while imprisoned in a metal shipping container since her arrest in May 2004. Sources told Compass that Berhane, a member of the Kidane Mehrete Fellowship, has been transferred back to Mai-Serwa Military Camp and now is able to walk with the help of a cane. The government has continued its campaign against Christian workers, jailing a U.S. citizen earlier this month. Evangelical Aregahaje Woldeselasie and his assistant, a married man identified only as Mushie, have been held in Asmara’s Police Station 5 since their arrest on October 4. An Eritrean-born U.S. citizen in his early 60s, Woldeselasie has been working with Nehemiah Ministry International in Eritrea since 1991, providing leadership training to new congregations. At the time of his arrest, Woldeselasie’s wife and two children were in the United States. .... Recently confirmed statistics indicate that at least 1,918 Eritrean citizens are jailed solely for their religious beliefs, without any access to judicial process. .... |
| Posted by:Ebbavise Cloting3404 |