USCIRF Annual Report 2004 - Eritrea

The government of Eritrea engages in particularly severe violations of freedom of religion and belief. It violates the rights of members of various religious groups, including by closing all churches not belonging to officially recognized religious denominations, arresting participants at prayer meetings and other gatherings, and imprisoning armed forces members reportedly found in possession of certain religious literature. In 2004, the Commission recommended that the State Department designate Eritrea as a "country of particular concern," or CPC, the first year that the Commission recommended this designation for Eritrea. To date, the State Department has not designated Eritrea a CPC.

Since gaining independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year war, Eritrea has struggled to implement political and economic reforms. Beset by internal political problems and violent confrontations with neighboring Ethiopia and Sudan, the ruling Popular Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) has become increasingly repressive, targeting political opponents and members of religious groups it perceives as undermining national unity. Since the PFDJ cancelled the 2001 elections, it has moved to jail political dissidents and curtail free speech and free assembly. It has also imposed severe restrictions on religious freedom, and provisions of Eritrea's 1997 Constitution guaranteeing religious freedom for all Eritreans have not been implemented. Public activities by non-traditional religions are currently banned, on the grounds that these groups have not gained government registration.

The Eritrean government officially recognizes the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, as well as the Lutheran-affiliated Evangelical Church of Eritrea and Islam. The government has close ties to the Orthodox Church and is suspicious of religious groups without a long history in the country – in particular, Protestant Evangelical, Pentecostal, and other non-traditional Christian denominations. Eritrea's Jehovah's Witnesses were the first religious group to experience the government's repressive policies. Negative official and popular views about Jehovah's Witnesses developed as a result of their refusal to take part in the 1993 independence referendum or to serve the obligatory tours of military service. The Eritrean government has made no provision for an alternative to military service. Jehovah's Witnesses experience official harassment, including prolonged detention for refusing military service, the revocation of trading licenses, and dismissal from the civil service. Some Jehovah's Witnesses who have refused to serve in the military have been imprisoned without trial for almost a decade; others cannot graduate from secondary school as the curriculum includes a mandatory military-training component. The number of Jehovah's Witnesses in Eritrea, once approximately 1,600, has reportedly dropped sharply, reportedly to as few as 500.

Relations among the four government-recognized religious communities are generally good. In recent years, however, Protestant evangelical and Pentecostal churches – or "Pentes" as they are collectively known in Eritrea – have faced inappropriate societal and government pressure. The Orthodox Church first expressed concern about the growth of what it considers "heretical" newer denominations, and the loss, particularly of its younger members, to these denominations. In 2001, Orthodox Church leaders sanctioned an attack on Pente prayer groups in which many people were beaten, their property vandalized, and Bibles and other religious material burned. In the interest of "maintaining national cohesion," the PFDJ banned religious organizations from involvement in politics and from commenting in detail on political matters. Fear of the destabilizing effect of proselytism by either Muslims or Evangelicals also reportedly caused the government to impose serious restrictions on foreign faith-based humanitarian organizations with the result that they have all but ended their activities in Eritrea. Government spokespersons have cited Pentes, along with extremist Islamist groups, as threats to national security.

In 2002, the Eritrean government issued a decree requiring registration of all religious groups, with the exception of the four government-sanctioned religious communities. By stipulating that without registration, no religious activities, including worship services, could be held, the decree effectively closed places of worship and prohibited public religious activities, including worship services, of all other religious communities in Eritrea. To date, no other religious groups have gained government registration, even though some groups submitted applications over one year ago, with the result that all except the four government-sanctioned religious groups operate without a legal basis.

Government authorities have also informed Pente groups that they would not allow gatherings of more than five persons in private homes. According to some religious groups and aid workers, it is now almost impossible for Pente Christians to meet, even in private, without fear of arrest or harassment. In late January 2004, police arrested 38 persons, including minors, attending a Jehovah's Witnesses religious service in a private home; two months later, 24 were still detained, without charge. In February 2004, over 50 persons affiliated with the Hallelujah Pentecostal Christian Church, including children, were arrested at a religious service in a private home. In March 2004, two leaders of the Rema Charismatic Church were arrested, along with their children and other family members.

Religious repression is alleged to be particularly severe in the armed forces. During the war with Ethiopia, many Eritrean soldiers accepted various forms of Protestantism, reportedly alarming government officials and leading to the banning of prayer meetings among armed forces members. Attendance at such meetings is punishable by imprisonment. Moreover, any military personnel found in possession of a Bible reportedly face severe punishment.

Estimates of those imprisoned for engaging in unauthorized religious activities is as high as over 300. The exact figure is difficult to determine, since an unknown number of soldiers and military conscripts are reportedly being held incommunicado. Pente Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses, and members of Orthodox splinter groups have been jailed, beaten, and allegedly threatened with death by security forces. Those arrested reportedly are asked to sign a "commitment" to deny their faith in order to be released. Parents and family members have been refused access to the prisoners unless they agree to persuade them to sign the "confession."

According to U.S. State Department sources, only in recent months has the Eritrean government agreed to discuss religious freedom, following previous refusals to do, citing national security concerns. Although U.S. officials have raised religious freedom concerns with Eritrean government officials both in Washington and in Asmara, no change in government policy has been forthcoming.