(RNS) — Thirty years after Eritrea revoked the citizenship of Jehovah’s Witnesses, international human rights experts are condemning the nation’s persecution of the religious group and advocating for the release of wrongfully detained prisoners.
“As of the latest information available, 64 Jehovah’s Witness worshippers remain in detention for exercising their faith,” Mohamed Babiker, a United Nations expert on Eritrea’s observance of human rights, reported to the body’s committee on social, humanitarian and cultural issues on Oct. 30. “Just last month, 25 Jehovah’s Witnesses, including two children, were arrested. While the two minors were later released, the 23 adults were reportedly transported to Mai Serwa prison.”
The September raid, the first major action against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Eritrea since 2014, broke up a worship service at the home of Letebrhan Tesfay, 85, one of the first Eritreans to become a Jehovah’s Witness, according to Jarrod Lopes, a U.S. spokesperson for the group.
Tesfay, who was among those arrested, “outlasted the oppression under Emperor Haile Selassie and is poised to do the same again,” Lopes said in an email. “Witnesses currently facing ruthless persecution for their faith share the same determination, hope, and inner peace as the Witnesses w …