|
CSW’s Annual Eritrea protest at the Eritrean Embassy Each year, alongside several other NGOs and churches, we take a stand and say ‘no more’ to human rights abuses and the ongoing persecution of religious minorities in Eritrea. Under the current administration Eritrean Christians have been locked up without charge or trial in, amongst other things, metal shipping containers, tortured and deprived of food and medical treatment. Their crime is to be Christian. The severe abuse of Christians and non-Christians by the Eritrean Government has attracted criticism from a range of NGOs including CSW.
Representatives of the British Orthodox Church, Anglican Church and Release Eritrea prepare to present a petition to the Eritrean embassy. Abba Seraphim, the Metropolitan of Glastonbury (centre), the Right Reverend Christopher Chessun, Anglican Bishop of Woolwich (right) and Dr Berhane Asmelash of Release Eritrea presented a petition to the Eritrean Ambassador appealing “for swift and positive action to ensure the release of all prisoners of conscience and to grant full religious freedom, as guaranteed under Eritrea’s commendable Constitution”.
A car approaches the tucked-away Eritrean Embassy on White Lion Street near Angel tube station in Islington, North London.
As the protest gets underway across the street, attention turns towards the windows of the Embassy building and protestors unite their voices against persecution. Commenting on the vigil, CSW’s Team Leader for Sub-Saharan Africa, Dr Khataza Gondwe said, “It was a privilege to stand in solidarity with the Eritrean people, and we pledge to continue to do so until the situation in that country irrevocably improves, and all of Eritrea’s citizens can enjoy the rights and freedoms enshrined in the nation’s constitution.”
The crowd has a time of worship outside as the London buses sweep past. David Turner National Coordinator of Church in Chains Ireland said, “It was a joy to stand in solidarity once again with our brothers and sisters who suffer ongoing persecution and imprisonment and to be reminded that just as the Berlin Wall fell and the evil of apartheid came to an end so a day of justice will come for the people of Eritrea.”
Protesters quietly talk and pray together. Around 70 people attended the protest, some holding banners and placards calling for the end of persecution of Eritrea's religious prisoners.
Protesters were drawn from a number of church denominations and NGOs concerned about Eritrea’s reputation for persecution. Dr Berhane Asmelash of Release-Eritrea thanked “all organisers and participants of the vigil on behalf of the persecuted Church of Eritrea and the thousands of victims of religious persecution in the country." |
|
|
