Release International

Christians in Eritrea who were tortured and jailed for their faith have given searing accounts of the brutality they faced to Release International, which serves the persecuted church worldwide.

‘The government has imprisoned Christians, they are torturing Christians, they are killing Christians,’ says Hanibal, a Christian activist who is documenting the persecution in Eritrea. ‘Christians are treated like animals.’

Another prisoner, Hzkias, was chained and kept in solitary confinement in a tiny pitch-black cell for five months. He said that when he was finally let out, he ‘looked like another creature. My hair and nails were long. My body colour was yellow.’

Other prisoners have described being tortured to try to make them renounce their faith. They tell their stories in the latest edition of Release magazine, [attached] by Release International. Their accounts were compiled during a recent fact-finding visit to refugee camps.

Release has launched a major campaign to highlight the plight of Christians who are persecuted by the military regime in Eritrea. The campaign includes an on-line petition calling on Eritrea to honour the right to freedom of religion, guaranteed under its constitution. The petition can be downloaded, or signed at: www.releaseinternational.org/pages/take-action/current-campaign/online-petition.php

Some 160,000 Eritreans have escaped to neighbouring Sudan, and more than 20,000 have fled across the border into Ethiopia. Thousands more have tried to cross the Red Sea into Yemen.

‘Up to 500 Eritreans a week are risking the dangers of minefields, crocodile-inhabited rivers and border guards who’ve been ordered to shoot to kill,’ says Release CEO Andy Dipper. ‘Many are being hounded out, jailed and tortured for no other reason than their Christian faith. Yet those we speak to love their country and want nothing more than to live in freedom as good citizens. Our message to Eritrea is stop the brutality.

‘Please add your name to our petition.’

Daniel, a refugee, put it like this: ‘As Christians, we must stand with our brothers and sisters in Eritrea. We must show our love, not only in prayer, but by standing with them. We must tell the world. Our problem is that we are quiet. That’s why the world doesn’t know what is happening in Eritrea.’

As well as launching the campaign to highlight their plight, Release is helping Eritrean refugees start their own small businesses, and is supporting churches in refugee camps by giving them Bibles and Christian resources.

Through its international network of missions Release supports Christians imprisoned for their faith and their families in 30 nations. It supports church workers, pastors and their families, and provides training, Bibles, Christian literature and broadcasts. Release is a member of the UK organisations Global Connections, the Evangelical Alliance and the Micah Network.

ENDS

NOTES TO THE EDITOR

Spellings of Hanibal and Hzkias above are correct.

Pictures and captions are available for download at the following link. Please credit Release International: http://release.thirdlight.com/a.tlx?k=7ihzeam

For a country profile on Eritrea, please go to: www.releaseinternational.org/pages/country-profiles/eritrea.php

For further information please contact Andrew Boyd on 01730 301905 or Release International on 01689 823491 or by email at info@releaseinternational.org

And for more information on Release International please go to: www.releaseinternational.org
 

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