Amnesty Int'l calls for immediate, unconditional release of pastor and churchgoers in Eritrea

ICC Note

Amnesty International is doing a commendable act of calling for action regarding the suffering Christians in Eritrea.

September 07, 2007 Eritrea (WIC) - Amnesty International yesterday urged its members to take action to secure the protection of a Protestant Pastor and 10 churchgoers in Eritrea who are being held incommunicado.

According to Amnesty, the 35-year-old Leul Gebreab is a pastor at the evangelical Apostolic Church and was arrested in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, on 12 August. To date there has been no news of his whereabouts.

In a separate incident on 19 August, 10 men and women -- who are members of the Full Gospel Church, a long-established evangelical church in Asmara -- were arrested while worshipping privately in a home in the city following the closure of their church by the authorities.

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Amnesty considers Pastor Gebreab and the 10 church members who were arrested in Asmara on 12 August to be prisoners of conscience as they have been detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their religious beliefs. Religious persecution in Eritrea has been widespread and harsh for several years, Amnesty stressed.

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Reports indicate that there are more than 2,000 currently being detained incommunicado, without charge or access to legal redress.

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