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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Answer

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what representations he has made to the Eritrean Government concerning the arrest of (a) Roman Catholics in Asmara on 9 January, (b) evangelical Christians on 9 January, (c) members of the Kale Hiwot church on 9 January, (d) evangelical Christians on 21 January and (e) Orthodox priests in November 2004; [222504] (2) what assessment he has made of the extent of persecutions of officially allowed denominations in Eritrea; [222505] (3) what representations he has made to the Eritrean Government concerning (a) reports of a task force appointed by the Eritrean Government to persecute Pentecostal and Evangelical Christians, (b) the arrest of Christian women on 12 February, (c) the arrest of Professor Senere Zaid on 3 February, (d) the arrest of members of the Kale Hiwot Church in +di-Tekelzan on 4 February and (e) the reported intimidation and harassment of those renting their premises to Christians from forbidden denominations. [222506] Mr. Mullin: We remain concerned at reports of the arrest and detention of members of all religious groups in Eritrea. We raise these concerns with the Eritrean Government regularly and were able to raise these recent reports with the Eritrean ambassador in London on 16 March. Our ambassador in Asmara has also followed up these cases during his meetings with senior Eritrean officials last week. We will continue to make clear our concern.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

432 c987W; 222504;222505;222506

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Bullying Arrests Harassment Religious freedom Eritrea Christianity

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk