Source: www.csw.org.uk
Date: July 18, 2020
I also noticed that under the sun there is evil in the courtroom. Yes, even the courts of law are corrupt! I said to myself, ‘In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds.’ (Ecclesiastes 3:16-17)
Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes remind us that we worship a just God, who sees every single injustice that takes place. Pray this week for divine justice in Eritrea.
We’ve learned of arrests at Christian gatherings, amid reports of increasing food insecurity.
Fifteen Christians were arrested at a worship service in a home in the Mai Chehot area of Asmara, Eritrea’s capital city, in April. They were detained in a police station before being taken to Mai Serwa Prison camp, infamous for its inhumane conditions.
In the last week of June a group of 30, including some non-Christians, was arrested at the wedding of a Christian couple. They were reportedly detained in a police station.1
There are concerns about the potentially severe impact of an outbreak of COVID-19 in Eritrea’s already overcrowded prisons, where tens of thousands are detained without charge or trial in life-threatening conditions.
‘The president is using COVID-19 to raise funds, but people in Eritrea are starving’
Dr Berhane Asmelash, Director of Release Eritrea, told us, ‘The government will excuse these arrests by saying these people are detained for breaking COVID restrictions. But the reaction is very heavy handed. Why detain them in such conditions; why not fine or warn them?’
He added, ‘The president is using COVID-19 to raise funds, but people in Eritrea are starving.’
Elizabeth Chyrum, Director of Human Rights Concern – Eritrea, told the UN Human Rights Council in June that an indefinite lockdown is being enforced violently by the army, yet ‘Eritrea has no welfare system, and while over two million people have no food to eat, the government is forcibly collecting money from its citizens to fight the virus.’
The government is also accused of starving Eritrea’s Afar population deliberately. They live on the Red Sea Coast but forcibly prevented fishing, and caravans of food purchased from neighbouring countries by local families are being intercepted and confiscated.
1 Release Eritrea, ‘News of further arrests at wedding’, 6 July 2020 https://eritreahub.org/news-of-further-arrests-at-wedding
In summary, please pray:
- That those arrested at Christian gatherings will be released immediately without charge.
- For God to work a miracle in the hearts of the authorities, so that they will provide food and a regular supply of water for all of their citizens.
- That in light of the pandemic, the government would release all prisoners of conscience, vulnerable low risk detainees, and long-term prisoners held without charge or trial.