by Rev. Thomas Reese S.J. Torture. Arbitrary arrests and detention without charges. A ban on public religious activities. Stifling of dissent. Forced labor. The governments of far too many countries persecute their citizens, including one we hear tooTorture. Arbitrary arrests and detention without charges. A ban on public religious activities. Stifling of dissent. Forced labor.
The governments of far too many countries persecute their citizens, including one we hear too little about: Eritrea. Those who know the character of the Eritrean government and its president, Isaias Afwerki, refer to the regime as the “North Korea of Africa.” A fitting moniker.
This week, Eritreans celebrate the holiday of Meskel, commemorating the finding of the True Cross. The head of the Eritrean Orthodox Church, however, will celebrate this holiday as he has for the past 10 years – under house arrest suffering from severe diabetes, imprisoned for his beliefs.
It is for this reason that the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, on which I serve, has recommended since 2004 that the State Department designate Eritrea as a “country of particular concern” for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. For the same reason, the State Department has indeed taken our advice and applied this designation every year since, most recently in October 2016.
