Christian Students Locked Up for Protesting Bible Burning
Several high school students in Eritrea were locked up earlier this month in metal shipping containers as punishment for protesting the burning of hundreds of Bibles.
The students had objected when military authorities at Sawa Defense Training Center near Eritrea's border with Sudan began burning more than 1,500 Bibles that were confiscated from new students enrolled in the upcoming academic year on Aug. 5, a source told the persecution watchdog agency Compass Direct News.
Authorities told the male students that the military training school they were at is a place of patriotism and not of "Pentes" (Pentecostals).
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Eritrea requires students to enroll in military training centers in order to graduate from high school.
"Eight male students to whom God gave boldness to speak against the burning of the Bibles have been taken into custody in one of the metal shipping containers that the military at Sawa uses as prison cells for Christians who have been found practicing their faith in the center," the source said.
The center forbids reading the Bible privately, discussing Christianity with other students, praying before or after meals alone or in groups, and possessing a Bible or any Christian literature.
Students who violate these rules can face imprisonment or severe military punishment.
Eritrea, a small country in East Africa on the Red Sea, is one of the worst persecutors of Christians in the world. The government is highly suspicious of newer Christian movements such as the Evangelical and Pentecostal churches and frequently harasses their followers.
A harsh crackdown began five years ago on all churches outside of the government-approved Orthodox, Catholic or Lutheran denominations. But recently the government started to crack down on the Orthodox Church, which it previously had a close relationship with.
The head of the Eritrean Orthodox Church – former Patriarch Abune Antonios, 80 – has been under house arrest for more than two years. He was illegally dismissed from his position in January 2006 after criticizing the government for interfering in church activities and for its persecution of evangelical churches, according to human rights group Amnesty International.
There are an estimated 2,000 Eritrean Christians under arrest without trial or legal charge for the sole reason of their religious beliefs.
Eritrean security forces have been known to raid weddings, baptism, worship services, prayer meetings, and other religious gatherings and arrest both hosts and guests.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom this year recommended that Eritrea be re-designated by the State Department as a "country of particular concern" (CPC). The U.S. Department of State has, for three straight years, designated Eritrea as a CPC – the worst religious freedom violation label.
