Eritrea Imprisons Large Group of Elderly Women
On December 5 officials of Eritrea arrested 30 Christian women in Asmara, the capital city of the country. The mostly elderly women were praying together at a house when security forces rounded them up and hauled them off to police station one in Asmara. Most of the detainees are members of Faith Mission Church, an Evangelical Church with a Methodist background. The church has been carrying out evangelistic and development activities in Eritrea for over five decades and was forced to go underground in 2002 after Eritrean officials required all religious groups to register. Since 2002, officials of Eritrea have been cracking down on members of both registered and unregistered churches. They have imprisoned more than 3000 Christians keeping them in underground dungeons, metal shipping containers, and military barracks. Several Christians have died inside prisons due to torture and lack of medical attention.