Global Campaign Demands Release of Seven Eritrean Church Leaders - Faith & Freedom News

London — Human rights advocates and faith leaders around the world have joined forces under the Voices for Justice campaign to demand the immediate release of seven Eritrean church leaders who have been held without trial for more than two decades.

On 21 August, representatives of Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) and supporters staged a peaceful protest outside the Eritrean Embassy in London. The event was part of a coordinated global effort marking the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief.

Worldwide Solidarity

Similar vigils and protests were held in Belgium, Brazil, Italy, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Switzerland, and the United States on 21 and 22 August. Participants offered prayers, raised placards, and delivered petitions urging the Eritrean government to end its practice of arbitrary detention of religious leaders.

At the London demonstration, activists delivered a signed letter to embassy officials, calling for the release of the seven detained clerics and the protection of full religious freedom in Eritrea.

Leaders Held for Over 20 Years

The detainees include:

Rev Haile Naizge, Chair of the Full Gospel Church
Dr Kuflu Gebremeskel, Chair of the Eritrean Evangelical Alliance
Rev Million (Meron) Gebreselassie, pastor of Rhema Evangelical Church and anaesthetist
Dr Futsum Gebrenegus, Eritrea’s only psychiatrist at the time of his arrest
Dr Tekleab Menghisteab, a respected physician and Orthodox priest
Rev Gebremedhin Gebregiorgis, Orthodox priest with the renewal movement Medhane Alem
Rev Kidane Weldou, senior pastor of the Full Gospel Church

Most were arrested between May 2004 and March 2005 and are believed to be held in the notorious Wengel Mermera Criminal Investigation Centre in Asmara.

The arrests targeted both leaders of banned evangelical groups and priests associated with Medhane Alem, an Orthodox renewal movement that had drawn strong youth support. The late Patriarch Abune Antonios, who resisted government orders to close the movement, was himself deposed and placed under house arrest in 2006.

Pattern of Repression

Despite official recognition of the Orthodox, Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran, and Sunni Muslim communities, the Eritrean government has continued to detain clerics arbitrarily.

In April 2025, Rev Gebremeskel Hagos, an Orthodox priest from Switzerland, was detained incommunicado during a visit to Eritrea. In July, Sheikh Adam Shaban, director of the Quran Memorisation Centre in Ghinda, was also taken into custody after responding to a government summons.

‘We Have Not Forgotten Them’

Speaking at the London protest, CSW CEO Scot Bower reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to the detainees:

“We are proud to join with other organisations and individuals across the world as part of the Voices for Justice campaign in calling for the release of the seven church leaders. We have not forgotten them and we will not stop campaigning until they are finally free and reunited with their loved ones.”

Bower noted that since 2002, when Eritrea outlawed most religious practices outside the four state-approved denominations, thousands of believers have been imprisoned. He stressed that the recent detention of both Christian and Muslim leaders shows that even officially recognized communities are not safe from repression.

Call for Immediate Release

Voices for Justice is demanding the unconditional release of Revs Naizge, Gebremeskel, Gebreselassie, Weldou, and their fellow prisoners, as well as all other detainees held solely for their faith.

Activists vowed to continue global demonstrations and advocacy until Eritrea upholds the universal right to freedom of religion or belief.