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Eritrea: Christian Prisoners of Faith Tortured, Held in Inhumane Conditions, “The World Needs to Wake Up”

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – An estimated 400-500 Christian prisoners of faith are being held in horrifying conditions in the East African nation of Eritrea. Eritrea ranks 4th on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.

Eritrea’s population consists of roughly equal numbers of Muslims and Christians; between 1%-5% of the Christian population identify as Protestant, with the majority identifying as Eritrean Orthodox.

However, although only half the population is Muslim, the war-torn, devastated East African country is oppressed by an Islamic regime led by President Isaias Afwerki’s People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), the PFDJ is corrupt and paranoid and has severely and violently restricted religious freedom.

Eritrean Christians are frequently tortured and imprisoned indefinitely in appalling conditions, even without being charged or tried. In a statement about the situation facing Eritrean prisoners of faith, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCR) confirmed that prisoners had been held in shipping containers:  “Inmates are subjected to total darkness, which increases their suffering. A torture chamber made of concrete is reportedly located at the back of the containers. [One] detainee… was interrogated and tortured four nights per week for two months.”

“The world needs to wake up to the atrocities taking place in Eritrea today,” Cameron Thomas, Africa Regional Director for the International Christian Concern advocacy group, said in a website statement.

Nevertheless, the Gospel is advancing in Eritrea, ICC reports. One imprisoned pastor was able to tell ICC that he had secretly baptized 50 believers by collecting toilet and shower water in a barrel. “It’s very tough, especially for Christians,” he said. However, the pastor continued: “Even though they are preventing us [from seeing other prisoners], so many people, even fighters and the prisoners, are receiving Jesus Christ as their personal savior.”