Religious Freedom in Eritrea

Presentation for Christian Solidarity World wide/Human Rights Concern-Eritrea Post-UPR Hearing. UN Human Rights Council, Geneva

Eritrea is one of the world’s worst violators of religious freedom. Current repression is an outworking of a policy dating back to when the government was a Marxist liberation movement, with a built in antipathy towards religious sentiment of any kind. Policy documents issued during the armed struggle provided an early indication of its subsequent actions against all faiths.

The first group to be attacked openly during the post-independence era were the Jehovah Witnesses, who effectively lost their rights as citizens after refusing to participate in the national referendum on independence and in active military service. Many were detained and mistreated, and some Witnesses imprisoned at that time are still in jail today.

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