A source in Eritrea has confirmed to ACI Africa news agency that security agents in Eritrea have arrested a Catholic bishop and two priests. According to BBC News, Bishop Fikremariam Hagos Tsalim was arrested at Asmara International Airport after he returned from Europe on October 15, 2022.
Bishop Fikremariam Hagos was ordained as the first bishop of the diocese of Segheneity in southern Eritrea in 2012. He is currently being held in the Adi Abeto prison along with his other priests, Father Mihretab Stefanos, the parish priest. Saint Michael of Segheneity and Capuchin Father Abba Abraham; Two priests were also arrested last week.
The source said that they were arrested because in their lecture they pointed out human rights violations in Eritrea.
Violation of human rights
In May, officials from several UK-based Christian organizations expressed concern about the continuing unjust human rights abuses in Eritrea. In letters to Eritrea's ambassadors to the United Kingdom and Ireland, the organizations highlighted numerous cases of human rights abuses.
“We remain concerned about the continued unjust, arbitrary and indefinite detention of tens of thousands of Eritrean citizens in harsh conditions, including hundreds of Christians imprisoned solely for their faith. surname."
Christian leaders also said they were "frightened by reports of Eritreans killed in fighting in neighboring Ethiopia, including conscripts and minors".
Confiscation of Church property
In August, the Eritrean government took over the Hagaz Agricultural Technical School, a Catholic educational institution founded and operated by the La Salle brothers. According to the BBC, the Hagaz School of Agricultural Engineering "has been training in farm machinery, crop and livestock care, and soil conservation for the past 23 years."
The seizure is the latest in a series of government confiscations that have taken place in Eritrea since 2019. The government cited a 1995 regulation that restricted the operation of religious institutions, to justify foreclosure.
Catholic bishops in Eritrea oppose the rule, saying the Church's social activities are not opposed to the government.