Bishop Michael Nazir Ali calls for religious freedom in Eritrea, Petition to be handed in on Jan 15

London: January 12, 2010, (PCTV Newsdesk)

Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, the patron of Release International, is to present a petition to the Eritrean Embassy and No.10 Downing Street calling for religious freedom for Eritrean Christians imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

More than 43,000 people have signed the petition, which is to be handed in on January 15. It is the culmination of a major campaign by human rights organisation Release, which has included the publication of the book Song of the Nightingale.

This is the searing first-person account of gospel singer Helen Berhane who was incarcerated in a shipping container and brutally beaten by the Eritrean authorities.

The petition will be handed in by Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, who resigned his post as Bishop of Rochester to speak out on behalf of persecuted Christians.

Eritrea has imprisoned more than 2,000 Christians, some in underground cells or shipping containers, and allows limited freedom to only a few traditional faiths.

Tens of thousands of Eritreans have fled the brutal regime, escaping to neighbouring Sudan, Ethiopia and Yemen. Each week up to 500 risk the minefields, crocodile-inhabited rivers and border guards who have been ordered to shoot to kill.

Bishop Michael says: ‘We want to assure the government of Eritrea that Christians are loyal citizens and present no danger to the integrity of the Eritrean nation. We are appealing to the government of Eritrea to allow all Christians freedom of assembly, worship and expression.’

‘Those we speak to love their country and want nothing more than to live in freedom as good citizens,’ says Andy Dipper, the CEO of Release International. ‘Yet many are being hounded out, jailed and tortured for no other reason than their Christian faith.

‘Our message to Eritrea is stop the brutality. We’re calling on Eritrea to honour the right to freedom of religion, guaranteed under its own constitution,’ he adds.

To highlight the plight of Eritrea’s imprisoned Christians, Release has also produced a music CD and a film about persecution in Eritrea.

Christians in Eritrea who were tortured and jailed for their faith have told their harrowing stories in Release magazine.

One prisoner, Hzkias, was chained and kept in solitary confinement in a tiny pitch-black cell for five months. When he was finally let out, he said: ‘I looked like another creature. My hair and nails were long. My body colour was yellow.’

Other prisoners have described being brutalised to try to make them renounce their faith. ‘They are torturing and killing Christians,’ says Hanibal, a Christian activist who is documenting the persecution in Eritrea. ‘Christians are treated like animals.’

Release is also helping Eritrean refugees start their own small businesses in refugee camps.

News source: www.releaseinternational.org