At least 40 per cent of Eritrea's citizens consider themselves Coptic Orthodox by birth, with at least half of the population of ethnic Muslim background.
Earlier this year, an Eritrean Christian died in prison, four and a half years after the Eritrean regime jailed him for worshipping in a banned Protestant church. From the southern port city of Assab, local Christians confirmed the death of Magos Solomon Semere on 15 February at the Adi-Nefase Military Confinement facility just outside Assab.
Compass reported that according to one source, Semere, 30, died as a result of physical torture and persistent pneumonia "for which he was forbidden proper medical treatment". He had reportedly endured a long period of severe illness in the months prior to his death. A member of the Rema Church, Semere had first been jailed in the fall of 2001, when he was arrested for evangelising and starting meetings for worship with six other Christians.
Semere's death is the third known killing of a Christian for his faith since last October. On 17 October 2006, Eritrean security police tortured two Christians to death, two days after arresting them for holding a religious service in a private home south of Asmara. Immanuel Andegergesh and Kibrom Firemichel died from torture wounds and severe dehydration in a military camp outside the town of Adi-Quala, according to Compass.
In May, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended that Eritrea be re-designated as one of 11 "countries of particular concern" for 2007. By including Eritrea on the list, the report noted that "religious freedom conditions continued to deteriorate in Eritrea, where the government engages in systematic and egregious religious freedom violations."
Despite appeals from governmental and human rights organisations to give religious freedom to all groups in the country, the Eritrean Government has denied that any persecution exists.
After being imprisoned and suffering for serving the Lord, Caleb (not his real name) testified: "I learned a lot in prison. I was in isolation for five months. I was in complete darkness under very bad conditions. After five months I was moved to a bigger cell. I immediately started to share the gospel. The guards threatened to punish me and send me back to the isolation cell. When they told me this, the words of Paul came to mind: 'For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.' What I witnessed and experienced strengthened me more than it discouraged me."
Please join with me in praying for Caleb and those who are suffering for their faith in Eritrea.
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Dr. Carl Moeller is president/CEO of Open Doors USA
