URGENT ACTION

Eritrea: Prisoner of Conscience/Torture or ill-treatment/Detention without charge

PUBLIC AI Index: AFR 64/008/2005
03 June 2005

UA 151/05 Prisoner of Conscience/Torture or ill-treatment/Detention
without charge

ERITREA Binyam Gezay (m)
Essey Stefanos (m)
Over 200 other members of the Meseret Christos
evangelical church

The security forces arrested a wedding party of over 200, including the bride
and groom on 28 May, in the capital, Asmara. All are reported to be members of
the Meseret Christos church, which is banned in Eritrea. They are at grave risk
of being tortured to force them to renounce their faith. Amnesty International
believes they are prisoners of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful
exercise of their right to freedom of religion.

Those arrested are held in a police station in the Expo district of Asmara. A
few were released without charge on 29 May, but most are still in custody. The
only names available are those of the groom, Binyam Gezay, and a gospel singer,
Essey Stefanos. By law they should have been brought before a court within 48
hours of arrest, but this has not been done.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Religious persecution is a feature of life in Eritrea, despite government
claims to the contrary. Since 2002, only the Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran
Christian churches have been allowed to operate, and evangelical churches have
been banned. There are frequent reports of the security forces torturing
evangelical church members, who have continued worshipping clandestinely, in an
attempt to force them to abandon their faith. Harassment of those defying the
2002 ban has intensified recently. Up to 900 members of banned churches were
already in custody before the recent arrests. They are held in harsh
conditions, in shipping containers, secret detention centres or underground
prisons. They are detained in a number of military prisons, with over 230 in
Sawa military conscription and training centre, near the Sudan border. Others
are held in Mai Serwa army camp near Asmara, and police and security prisons in
Asmara, the northern town of Keren and the Red Sea port of Assab.