The London-based nonprofit Release Eritrea, which promotes religious harmony and human rights, released a statement this week explaining that the group of detainees was targeted by the regime in Asmara. The detainees are believed to have been taken to a local police station known as Kalai Medeber.

“That takes the tally of prisoners up to fourt-five in total since last April when another group of fifteen Christians that had been attending a worship service were rounded up from the capital’s Mai Chehot area and transported to the prison camp in Mai Serwa,” Release Eritrea explained. 

CSW, a United Nations accredited NGO, warned that the reported new detentions in Eritrea come amid increased concerns over the deadly impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Eritrea’s overcrowded prison system.

Release Eritrea Director Berhane Asmelash told CSW in a statement that the government will “excuse these arrests by saying these people are detained for breaking COVID restrictions.”

CSW noted that tens of thousands of Eritreans are imprisoned in over 300 unsanitary detention centres without charge or trial. Some prisoners of conscience in Eritrea have been detained for decades due to their political views or religious beliefs. 

Last week, the United Nations Human Rights Council, which Eritrea is a member of, held an interactive dialogue on the human rights situation in Eritrea that included several countries and nongovernmental organisations.

Source and image: christianpost.com