GSE ARRESTS PRESBYTERIANS FOLLOWING WORSHIP SERVICE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASMARA 000421 SIPDIS SIPDIS LONDON FOR AFRICA WATCHERS, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/02/2017 TAGS: PHUM KIRF PGOV SOCI ER SUBJECT: GSE ARRESTS PRESBYTERIANS FOLLOWING WORSHIP SERVICE Classified By: AMB. Scott H. DeLisi for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Following worship services on Sunday, April 29, officials from the Government of Eritrea's (GSE) national security office appeared at the unregistered Mehrete Yesus Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Asmara and arrested nearly 80 individuals, including two American citizen missionaries. Congregation members were engaged in fellowship after the worship service at the church, when a church member informed those gathered that members of the GSE national security office were outside the facility. Church members immediately contacted the head of the church, Rev. Zecharias Abraham who was preaching that morning in Ghinda, a town about 40 km from Asmara. Rev. Zecharias returned to the church and attempted to negotiate with the national security officials, showing them the documentation from the Office of Religious Affairs that names the Mehrete Yesus Church as a "conforming church, pending registration". The national security officials were disinterested in the documentation indicating the church was permitted to conduct Sunday worship services, and proceeded to arrest all present in the church. In addition to arresting the individuals in the church facility, the national security officials also arrested a few non-church members who were coincidentally passing by the church. ¶2. (C) National security officials transported the men and women, and a few children, to Police Station Number 5 in Asmara. The police transported the men to Police Station Number 4 later in the afternoon and police released the children on Monday, May 1. The two American citizens(who are not dual nationals) remained in Police Station Number 5. National security officials interrogated members of the church, including the two American citizens. The interrogators asked questions about the members' involvement and roles with the church and focused particularly on the church's source of income and individual's previous religious affiliations - with a special focus on individuals who had converted from the Eritrean Orthodox church. The interrogators reportedly hit and slapped the Eritrean church members during the interrogations. One of the American citizens was asked to sign a statement printed in Tigrinya. When she insisted upon a written English translation, the interrogators provided an oral translation that summarized her statement. She quickly realized that if she continued to insist upon a written translation she would probably be waiting a very very long time and she consented and signed the Tigrinya statement. (Note: A report on prison conditions will follow septel. End note.) Friends and family members provided food to the detained church members; and several individuals who came to visit the church members were arrested when they appeared at the police station. While the Eritrean church members remain incarcerated, the American citizens were released the morning of May 3. Upon their release, the national security officials informed the Americans they were no longer permitted to preach or teach in Eritrea. ¶3. (C) After the arrest the church remained open, however, monitored by national security officials. Reportedly on April 30 and May 1, national security officers arrested any individuals who stopped by the church after the arrests to check on the status of the arrested members or even to use church facilities, such as the reading room. ¶4. (U) The Mehrete Yesus Evangelical Presbyterian Church, affiliated with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, is an unregistered church in Eritrea. The church has completed all of the necessary paperwork required for registration. To date the Office of Religious Affairs had considered them to be a "conforming" church. In this limbo status of "all but registered," the GSE allowed the church to hold worship services behind closed doors, open a theology school and basically maintain its operations, albeit discreetly. ¶5. (C) The American citizens described the national security officials to the Ambassador as being "goons" who were "rude" and not very intelligent. They were mostly lowland Muslims probably brought in to do the dirty work of the higher officials of the office of national security. (Comment: The GSE often brings individuals from the lowlands to serve as police and security in Asmara, filling their heads with negative prejudices about the people of Asmara, playing on ASMARA 00000421 002 OF 002 Eritrean stereotypes, in order to make the police/security more aggressive and less compassionate toward the people they are arresting. End comment.) ¶6. (C) Comment: The targeting of the Mehrete Yesus Church is a new twist in the persecution of Christians in Eritrea. The GSE has permitted the four churches that have submitted completed registration packets (Mehrete Yesus, Faith Mission, Baha'i and Seventh Day Adventists) to operate with limited harassment. Post is concerned that these other three churches may be next on the list. The Office of Religious Affairs, that is reported to be part of the Office of National Security, was able to negotiate on behalf of the churches and played a role in securing exit visas for the church pastors and resident permits for visiting missionaries. The GSE, through the Office of National Security, seems to be expanding its efforts to pressgang individuals back into the Eritrean Orthodox Church by making membership in the unregistered religious groups appear risky and dangerous. Post believes the GSE wishes Christian Eritreans to return to the Eritrean Orthodox church, which they also control. Most importantly, the increasingly powerful role of the Office of National Security is evident in these arrests and in the presence of national security both during the arrest and at the police station. From post's perspective, this incident serves as yet another example of the pervasive role of the Office of National Security in Eritrea today. End Comment. DeLisi