Nearly 21 years after the two Orthodox priests were deliberately imprisoned in Eritrea, their wives died.
Neither Rev. Gebremedhin Gebregiorgis nor Dr. Futsum Gebrenegus have been charged with a crime since his arrest on November 19, 2004, nor have the third Orthodox priest been seized at that time. All three have been active in the renewal movement within the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahed Church, which had been in power since 1993 by President Isayas Afwarki’s administration, but the Orthodox Church is one of Eritrean four religious organizations.
The Orthodox priest based at Medhane Alem Church is three of the six Christians who have been jailed in horrific circumstances since 2004, and another arrested in 2005 – all without charges, trial or access to lawyers, rights advocates say. Seven Christian leaders are reportedly holding real estate at Wengermermela Crime Investigation Center, Asmara’s largest security prison, which the USCIRF describes as one of the “vicious” prisons in Eritrea.
Dr. Gebrenegs’ wife and father died several years after his incarceration. Tsegeini Mekkonen Hale, wife of Pastor Gebrerioligis, died of cancer in June 2022, leaving behind her husband and three children.
A highly respected doctor, Rev. Mengistea, was the arrest date of the most senior doctor at St. Mary’s Psychiatric Hospital in Asmara. His wife Wubie Kahsay and daughters Hana, Sesayit, and Rediet have since fled the country for their own protection.
Christian rights groups from various countries are urging the international community to take action on behalf of seven Eritrean Christians who have been jailed for more than 20 years by the scheduled August 22nd conference of demonstrations, processions and prayer. Information can be found on Voice on the Justice Facebook page.
As part of the Religious Liberty Partnership Justice Campaign (#Voices4Justice), other groups, including Advocacy Group 21Wilberforce and Set My People Free and Christian Freedom International, scheduled recovery at the Eritrea Embassy in Washington, DC one day before Friday (August 21) (August 21). Starting at 11am at the Dupont Circle fountain, embassy participants walk to the embassy to pray, calling for the release of seven Christian leaders, and condemning religious freedom and human rights abuses in Eritrea.
Also, on Thursday, Christian Solidarity is scheduled to offer a peaceful protest outside the Eritrea embassy in London, with Mai planning an online prayer event in Brazil. On Friday (August 22), aid HMK Switzerland (Hilfefrumensch (Kirsch)) organized a peaceful protest outside the Eritrea embassy in Geneva. The National Christian Evangelical Union of Sri Lanka holds online prayer events in Colombo, while other online prayer events are set by Freedom Seeker International in Nigeria and in Texas.
Open Doors features advocacy campaigns for opportunities in France, Italy, Denmark, Canada and Sweden. I will free my people in Sweden, free the voices and Polish voices of Canadian martyrs, but the International Christian Response (ICR) and others do so in the US.
An unimaginable loss
Two of the seven imprisoned church leaders, Pastor Haile Nyse and Dr. Kufur Gebremeskel, were arrested on May 23, 2004 in an early morning home attack. At the time, Pastor Nyse was the chairman of the Perfect Gospel (Mulwenger) Church.
Pastor Naisge’s mother was seriously ill at the time of detention and was not permitted to see her son before her death. The pastor’s wife, Raher and his three children, Shalom, Joel and Naher, are forced to flee and eventually evacuated to North America.
Pastor Gebremeskel was last seen during a 2021 hospital visit. Pastor Nysge and Gebremeskel are reportedly being held at incommunicado on the Wengel Mermela site.
Holding unclaimed for over 21 years is pastor Gebres Lassi, also known as Melon. He headed the Lema Evangelical Church in Masawa and worked as an anesthesiologist at Masawa Hospital when he was arrested on June 3, 2004 at a police checkpoint at the entrance to Asmara.
Pastor Gebreseracy was detained for two months at Asmara’s 2nd Police Station before being imprisoned by Wengel Mermela.
In 2005, the seventh church leader was taken into custody. On March 18, 2005, police forced Pastor Kitan Welduru to “disappear” from the city of Asmara. He has since been detained in arbitrary voluntary detention, presumably without justification by Wengel Mermera. The married father of four daughters was a senior pastor at the church in Asmara and a member of the Gideons International Executive Committee in Eritrea.
Eritrea recognizes only four religious groups as legal: the Tewahed Church of the Eritrea Orthodox Church, the Sunni Islamic Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Eritrea Evangelical Lutheran Church. Other religious groups are required to register, but have refused to approve new registrations since 2002, according to the US State Department.
According to the USCIRF’s 2025 annual report, approximately 51% of Eritrea’s estimated population of 6.3 million are Sunni Muslims. Approximately 41% of the population is Orthodox in Eritrea, and 5% is Roman Catholic. According to the USCIRF, Christians with no relation to Protestants, atheists and non-believers, indigenous practitioners of traditional religions, Shia Muslims and Bahais make up less than 5% of the population.
Stakeholders may help advocate for seven Christian leaders through a 21Wilberforce campaign to sign or copy and send to the Eritrea embassy in Washington, DC.
Voice for Voice is a collaborative community focused on ensuring justice for individuals and communities around the world that target their faith. That first campaign brings together organizations, churches and individuals from countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America, commemorating the victims of religious and belief-based acts of violence on Friday (August 22) to bring prayer gatherings and prayer gatherings to refrain from light humiliation of the seven leaders and their liberation.
