RLPB 671. The Horror of Eritrea: Three More Christian Prisoners

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 671 | Wed 16 Nov 2022
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

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THE HORROR OF ERITREA: THREE MORE CHRISTIAN PRISONERS
By Elizabeth Kendal

BACKGROUND: In September 2001 the Eritrean government closed all private media. It then rounded up its critics – members of parliament, senior government officials and independent journalists – and silenced them; many simply disappeared. In May 2002 the Eritrean government officially closed all churches other than the Eritrean Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Mekane Yesus (Evangelical Lutheran) denominations. Initially those most impacted belonged to the country’s now-banned Protestant mission churches whose congregations have grown and multiplied. In 2004, after Orthodox leaders criticised regime policy, persecution spread to the Orthodox Church. In 2019, after Catholic leaders criticised regime policy for the second time, persecution spread to the Catholic Church as the regime seized its medical clinics and started a process of seizing its schools.

CATHOLIC BISHOP AND TWO PRIESTS ARRESTED

Map (source) showing Teseney (far west),
the capital Asmara (centre),
and Segheneyti (south).

On 11 October 2022 Eritrean security agents detained Abba (Father) Mihretab Stefanos, the parish priest of St Michael’s Church in Segheneyti, a town some 60km south-east of the capital Asmara, in Eritrea’s Debub/Southern Region. Significantly, Awate.com reports (19 Oct 2022) that the regime recently confiscated the St Michael Elementary school in Segheneyti. On 12 October the regime detained Abba Abraham Habtom Gebremariam, the deputy parish priest in charge of students at the Capuchin Society in Teseney, a market town some 530km west of Asmara in Eritrea’s western Gash-Barka Region. Then, on 15 October, Abune (His Excellency) Fikremariam Hagos, the first Bishop of the Catholic Eparchy (diocese) of Segheneyti, was arrested at Asmara International Airport as he returned from a visit to Europe. A source told Catholic media that the three Catholics stand accused of highlighting Eritrea’s human rights abuses in their homilies/sermons. Sources believe that all three Catholics are being held at the notorious Adi Abeito prison on the northern outskirts of Asmara.

Since the religious repression was launched in May 2002, many thousands of Eritrean Christians (mostly Protestants) have endured incarceration because of their faith. Some leading Christians arrested in 2004 remain incarcerated to this day, including Pastor Haile Naigzhi, a leader in Eritrea’s Full Gospel/Kale Hiwot Church; Dr Kiflu Gebremeskel, a leading figure in the Full Gospel Church of Eritrea and chair of the Eritrean Evangelical Alliance; and Fathers Gebremedhin Gebregiorsis and Tekleab Menghisteab, two Orthodox priests arrested allegedly for being involved in the Church’s ‘Medhane Alem’ (‘Saviour of the World’) Bible study and renewal movement. An estimated 500 Christians are currently incarcerated because of their faith, including Father Kiros Tsegay – an American citizen who has ministered in Florida for 25 years. Father Kiros was arrested in October 2021 while visiting Eritrea to organise a memorial service to mark the first anniversary of his mother’s death. [NOTE: The Biden administration’s deep ties to the TPLF mean it might be best if Florida takes the lead in advocacy in this case.]

Catholic bishop Abune Fikremariam Hagos,
arrested 15 Oct 2022.

For prisoners – be they political or religious dissidents, or citizens fleeing compulsory and unending military service – conditions are extremely harsh. While many prisoners – complete with lice, festering wounds, diarrhea and various infectious diseases – are held in overcrowded cells, others are held in shipping containers or underground pits. Slave labour and torture are routine. Many prisoners simply disappear. The repression is such that Eritrea has earned the reputation of being ‘Africa’s North Korea’.

[Recommended, ‘Eritrea: The Secret State’, a documentary by Australian investigative reporter Evan Williams (screened June 2021).]

Much like North Korea’s President Kim Jong-un, Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki has long tied the regime’s extreme and brutal repression to the lack of peace, the perpetual threat from across the border, and the need to remain on a permanent war footing. However, now that Eritrea’s (and Ethiopia’s) greatest enemy – the Marxist-Leninist separatist and expansionist Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) – has been defeated on the battlefield [see RLPB 670 (9 Nov)], Afwerki no longer has any excuse. However, can a leopard change its spots? Of course not! Neither can Afwerki or the regime he leads change their wicked nature (see Jeremiah 13:23). Eritrea still needs a divine intervention.


PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR MERCIFUL GOD WILL

* ‘bind the strong man’ (Satan; see Mark 3:27) so that the brutal regime of President Isaias Afwerki will either change its wicked ways or crumble into the dustpan of history; may it be powerless to resist the desire of the Eritrean people (for liberty) and the will and purpose of God (redemption).

* preserve and sustain his long-suffering precious Church in Eritrea; may she have wisdom to navigate the treacherous path before her and may all her captives be freed. We especially pray for all who have endured incarceration (that they may know healing), and all who are currently incarcerated (that they may be liberated). Lord have mercy!

Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. (Hebrews 13:3 ESV).

* magnify the voice of the Body of Christ, along with that of the increasingly united and active Eritrean Diaspora, so that voiceless Eritreans, including those of Eritrea’s severely persecuted, long-suffering Church, will have a voice that will be heard on earth and in heaven.

* continue to work through Ethiopia’s Christian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the man who brokered peace between the two governments and defeated the TPLF on the battlefield. May the Lord be pleased to use PM Abiy to encourage reform in neighbouring Eritrea, for the sake of Eritrea and all Eritreans, especially her long-suffering persecuted Church.


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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THE HORROR OF ERITREA: THREE MORE CHRISTIANS ARRESTED

Repression and human rights abuses are so severe in Eritrea that the state is often referred to as ‘Africa’s North Korea’. Much like North Korea’s President Kim Jong-un, Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki has long tied the regime’s extreme and brutal repression to the lack of peace and the need to remain on a war footing. The repression began in 2001. Protestant Christians have faced persecution since 2002; the Orthodox Church since 2004 and the Catholic Church since 2019. Since 2002, thousands of Eritrean Christians have endured incarceration; around 500 are currently imprisoned. Conditions are inhumane; slave labour and torture are routine. In mid-October a Catholic bishop and two priests were arrested for highlighting human rights abuses. However, with Ethiopia’s defeat of the expansionist TPLF, Afwerki no longer has any excuse. Please pray.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted Church. Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) is a donor funded ministry; to support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com.

Elizabeth has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

For more information see www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 670. The Battle for Ethiopia: From Two Fronts to One

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 670 | Wed 09 Nov 2022
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

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View RLPB archives at Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog.
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THE BATTLE FOR ETHIOPIA: FROM TWO FRONTS TO ONE
- TPLF surrenders; OLA abducts church leaders in Oromia Region
By Elizabeth Kendal

Ethiopia map, showing location of
reported OLA attacks.
(click on map to enlarge)
map source

ETHIOPIA vs OLA: On Saturday night 22 October, gunmen believed to be from the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA – formerly known as ‘OLF-Shene’) stormed the Midre Genet St. Mariam Church in Gebre Guracha. Inside the church – which is located around 160km north-west of Addis Ababa in North Shewa Zone, Oromia Region – were priests, deacons and a church administrator who had gathered for an all-night prayer service. One deacon was killed in the attack and 11 others were abducted. By 4 November, one priest and the church administrator had been ransomed. To date, the whereabouts and condition of the other nine captives remain unknown. North of the capital, Addis Ababa, with three sides adjoining Amhara Region, North Shewa Zone (Oromia) is 84 percent Oromo, 15 percent Amhara, 5.3 percent Muslim and 94 percent Christian. A priest from North Shewa Selale Diocese Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) told the Addis Standard (4 Nov) that most of the churches in North Shewa Zone’s eight districts have stopped providing services due to insecurity. According to the diocesan head, members of the parish council of Harbu Bose St. Michael church have also been abducted and the diocese is working with security forces to free them. Another local priest confirms that militants ‘taking hostages and asking for money’ has ‘become more common in this area’.

Religion in Ethiopia
(Click on map to enlarge)
map source

As RLPB has long reported, the Christian Crisis is especially severe throughout Oromia Region’s majority Christian north-west where militant Oromo ethnic nationalists and separatists are waging a campaign of terror aimed at driving out the minority Amhara [see RLPB 652 (6 July 2022)]. On Sunday morning 6 November, OLA militants entered Nekemte, a market town around 330km west of Addis Ababa in East Welega Zone. East Welega Zone is 89 percent Oromo, 10.5 percent Amhara, 8 percent Muslim and 78 percent Christian. Having targeted a military base, the militants opened fire on Ethiopian government soldiers. Days earlier in West Welega Zone, OLA militants took control of Mendi, Kiltu Kara and Leta Sibu towns, looting property and abducting officials. West Welega Zone is 77 percent Oromo, 21 percent Amhara, 19 percent Muslim and 79 percent Christian. The terrorists also ambushed a vehicle as it travelled through Bengua town, 20km west of Mendi town. The vehicle was carrying medical and other supplies as well as students, who were travelling home to Kamashi after sitting their national exam in Assosa. The terrorists looted all the supplies and abducted 16 students, who remain missing as security forces endeavour to locate and free them.

ETHIOPIA vs TPLF: On 2 November 2022 – one day before the two-year anniversary of the TPLF’s massacre of the Northern Command (the massacre which triggered the war) – the Ethiopian Government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed an ‘Agreement for Lasting Peace Through a Permanent Cessation of Hostilities…’ [FULL TEXT]. The Agreement is, as one analyst put it, ‘more akin to a complete surrender than a compromise reached between two exhausted warring parties that find themselves in a stalemate or quagmire'. In late August, after the TPLF relaunched its war against the federal government, Prime Minister Abiy sent his forces on the offensive with orders to pursue the TPLF inside Tigray. With Abiy standing firm and the USA largely out of the picture, two months was all it took. Encircled, depleted and without supply, ‘the TPLF had no choice but to swallow the harsh, bitter, and unpalatable terms of the Agreement’.

The Agreement – which now enters the implementation phase – includes a comprehensive Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) program for the TPLF, as the parties recognise that Ethiopia has ‘only one defence force’ [Article 6]. The parties agree to respect the ‘sovereignty, territorial integrity, and unity of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia’ [Article 2]. Having fought to reclaim their ancestral lands in Welkait and Raya (farmlands the TPLF annexed into Tigray during its nearly 30-year rule), the Amhara are anxious that Articles 5.3 (on the return of the displaced) and 10.4 (on ‘resolving issues of contested areas’) will favour the TPLF at the expense of the original Amhara landowners [see RLPB 651 (29 June 2022)]; this will make for difficult negotiations. While a truce heralds the commencement of a long and difficult peace process, a rebel surrender is a great place to start. We praise and thank God for his mercy in preserving Ethiopia in answer to the prayers of many. The biggest issues facing the federal government now are: implementation of the Agreement – especially the disarmament of the TPLF and negotiations over ‘contested areas’, defeating the terrorist OLA (which is backed by Egypt and Sudan’s Islamist military) and, the most critical issue of all, Constitutional reform to address toxic ethnic nationalism and separatism. All this will take place within the context of the greatest battle of all: the spiritual Battle for Ethiopia (Ephesians 6:12).

Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
worship in Afan Omoro (language)
in East Welega, 2016.
(EOTC Channel, YouTube)

PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR MERCIFUL GOD WILL:

* intervene to sustain, protect and ultimately liberate the youths, officials and Christian leaders currently held hostage by the Oromo Liberation Army; Lord have mercy!

* grace Prime Minister Abiy and the entire Ethiopian government with wisdom, boldness and resolve to defeat the terrorist Oromo Liberation Army; may every person impacted by OLA terror seek and find their shelter in the Lord.

* sustain and strengthen Prime Minister Abiy and the entire Ethiopian government as they work to implement the Agreement made with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front; may the Holy Spirit, ‘the Lord and giver of life’, soften hearts and direct minds in favour of peace, reconciliation and Ethiopian unity – for the sake of Ethiopia’s mission-focused Church and every lost and needy soul who needs her, be they Ethiopian or otherwise.

* intervene to energise, guide and aid the process of constitutional reform and peace-making for the benefit of Ethiopia and the whole Horn of Africa. Lord have mercy!


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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THE BATTLE FOR ETHIOPIA: FROM TWO FRONTS TO ONE

On 2 November 2022 the Ethiopian Government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed an ‘Agreement for Lasting Peace Through a Permanent Cessation of Hostilities’. Encircled, depleted and without supply, the TPLF had little choice but to surrender. Now the difficult work of implementation (which includes disarming the TPLF) and negotiation (including over ‘contested areas’) begins. Please pray! Meanwhile, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) continues to wage terror across Oromia Region’s mostly Christian north and west, targeting the Amhara minority. Numerous students, local officials and church leaders are currently being held hostage. In North Shewa Zone, security is so bad that churches have ceased services. Nine deacons abducted from a prayer meeting on 22 October remain missing, as do members of a church council abducted around the same time. Please pray.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted Church. The RLPB is a donor-funded ministry. To support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com.

Elizabeth has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

For more information visit: www.ElizabethKendal.com