3,225 CHRISTIANS IN PRISON (AND COUNTING)

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASMARA 000212 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR DRL/IRF AND AF/E LONDON, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/14/2018 TAGS: PHUM KIRF PGOV ER SUBJECT: 3,225 CHRISTIANS IN PRISON (AND COUNTING) REF: A. ASMARA 205 ¶B. 2007 ASMARA 699 Classified By: Ambassador Ronald K. McMullen for reason 1.4(d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Reverend Zecharias Abraham (strictly protect) of the Mehrete Yesus Evangelical Presbyterian Church met with PolOff on April 10 to discuss the status of the Christian churches in Eritrea. Rev. Zecharias provided updated numbers on imprisoned Christians, and his views on the new GSE-issued "religious ID cards." End Summary. ¶2. (C) According to Rev. Zecharias, currently 3,225 Christians (of Protestant and charismatic denominations) are being held in prison throughout the country without formal charge. This number includes 37 full-time pastors who have been held without charge since May 2002, and 125 Christians imprisoned since January 2008 for "unauthorized" worship in private homes. ¶3. (C) Rev. Zecharias also commented on the recent religious ID cards provided to the Catholic Church (reftel A). He noted that the GSE has also provided cards to the other approved religious denominations (Lutherans, Muslims, and Orthodox Christians),but exempting only for a portion of their religious staff from national service duty. Reverend Zecharias believes the GSE arbitrarily selected the number of cards to be issued based on a pre-screening of rosters of religious officials demanded by the GSE and provided months earlier by the religious establishments (reftel B). Only the Catholic Church has received full exemption, i.e. 100% ID distribution for its religious workers and students. ¶4. (C) Although exemption from national service may seem like a victory for the religious institutions, Rev. Zecharias explained, the ID cards do not actually indicate "exempt from national service." Instead, he added, the GSE has simply chosen not to draft those with ID cards at this time. According to Rev. Zecharias, the cards will serve as a way of tracking all religious officials who are not yet in national service so that they can be more easily drafted when the time comes. MCMULLEN