During January 2003, 50 members of the charismatic Rhema Church were jailed for 10 days following a police raid on a New Year celebration in Asmara.

  The period from mid February to March was marked by severe repression. The NGO Compass Direct reported that a total of 170 Christians were jailed, beaten and threatened with death by security operatives following five separate police raids on worship services, wedding ceremonies and other gatherings. The police jailed men, women and children for "practising a new religion". Most were held for over two weeks without being formally charged. One group was held for 15 days in metal containers designed to serve as severe punishment cells, while another group of people witnessed their pastor being humiliated, tortured and forced to walk along sharp rocks for half an hour. Moreover, people who bailed out jailed relatives were forced to sign a document stating that the bailed prisoner would be liable for execution if he or she were to be caught at any subsequent church meeting.

  On 17 April, 15 Christians attending a Bible study in Kushte required hospitalisation after being attacked and badly beaten by a stick-wielding mob that allegedly included four Orthodox priests. The following day members of the Mesert Christos Church in Asmara were held in detention for an entire day and, upon being released, were warned never to meet again.

  Over 56 Protestants from towns in the northern province of Sahel were forcibly conscripted following police raids, which occurred during working hours on 29 April. Most were healthcare and other professionals and the majority had already served their terms of military service. Subsequently, 36 members of Kale Hiwot Church were taken from their homes and work places to a military training camp. As they were led away the police taunted their friends and relatives saying that church elders were next in line for detention.

  26 April was the eve of Easter Sunday. In accordance with a long held tradition the youngsters from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Asmara had taken to the streets, signing hymns about the resurrection. As they passed a local bar at 11.30 pm they were confronted by an angry security service officer who informed them that such activities were forbidden to members of "closed churches". Upon being informed of their denomination, the officer began to accuse the group of "misusing" the freedoms granted to their church. Two young men stood their ground and were subsequently arrested. They were released on the afternoon of 29 April and were severely warned against repeating this Easter tradition. The detention of the two young men caused great alarm, since it served as an indication that even members of a "permitted" denomination are no longer safe from persecution in Eritrea.

  On 7 May police raided prayer meetings held in the private homes of the members of the Rhema Church in Asmara, arresting 54 members and two evangelists and charging them with holding illegal meetings.

  On 24 August Compass Direct reported that local police in the Red Sea port city of Massawa arrested 10 Protestants from several independent denominations after they had gathered in a private home for Sunday worship.

  On 7 September police in Asmara arrested 12 Christians who were meeting in a home for worship. Nearly all those arrested were young people and members of the Dubre Bethel Church. The police chief demanded that they pledge in writing to deny their faith in order to be released. When the six women and six men refused, the chief ordered that their food rations be withheld.

  In October Compass Direct reported that government authorities confiscated and sealed the complex of the Full Gospel Church in Asmara, ordering the church staff and members to evacuate the building permanently on 15 October.

  Compass Direct also reported that in mid November the principal of Bakra Secondary School accused 12 evangelical students of conducting "illegal" Christian activities on school premises. The children were detained for two weeks at Police Station No 1 and upon their release their parents were ordered to "control" their children in order to prevent a repetition of such activities.

  On 14 December, 13 Christians were arrested in the town of Adi Kihe, situated 70 miles from Asmara. Compass Direct reports that elsewhere on the same day a pastor and 10 members of the Faith of Christ Church were arrested along with an assistant evangelist from the officially sanctioned Evangelical Lutheran church while attending an Evangelical Lutheran service. The evangelist was released two days later, following intervention by church officials. The others remain in detention.

  By the end of 2003 the government had detained over 300 Protestant Christians. Persecution continued into 2004.

  On 15 February police in Asmara arrested Pastor Mengis Tewoldemedhin of the Hallelujah Church and his congregation as they worshiped in secret in a house in the Edaga Hamuse district. The 34 men and 17 women were held at Adi Abeito military prison until February 18, when Pastor Tewoldemedhin was separated from the group and locked in an underground cell. According to an unconfirmed report from a local source members of the congregation under 18 were sent to Sawa for forcible military training; those over 18 were forcibly conscripted into the army and Mrs Tsega, the owner of the house where the meeting occurred, was held in Police Station No 2. According to a Compass Direct report of 23 March 2004, 46 members of the church remain under incommunicado detention.

  On 23 February, 10 members of the Full Gospel Church were arrested in a house in the Aba Shwale district of Asmara. All were imprisoned except the elderly house owner, who was ordered to pay a fine that amounted to over half a month's salary for hosting illegal meeting in her home. This incident marked the first time that criminal charges and fines had been given to members of proscribed denominations.

  In March the Eritrean authorities began to arrest entire families whilst they worshipped together in their own homes. On 17 March a lay member of the Rhema Church was arrested at his home in Asmara along with his wife, six children and father-in-law as they were holding family devotions. The family was held overnight at a local police station, and then transferred to Adi Abeito camp/prison, which is situated outside Asmara.

  On the evening of 18 March another Rhema Church leader was arrested along with his wife and five children. They were held overnight in Police Station No 5 and transferred to Adi Abeito prison on the following day.

  On 18 March police in Assab arrested 20 members of the Kale Hiwot Church as they attended a home group meeting. In another indication that sanctioned churches also face repression, Compass Direct reported that on the following day the security services began to monitor the Sunday school meetings of a group of young adults from the Orthodox Church and their priest whom they accused of conducting "illegal activities." On 19 March police arrested Yona Haile, an Eritrean Christian singer, accusing him of activities contrary to government policy. However, in late June he managed to escape from the Sawa Military Centre along with Pastor Tewoldemedhin. Both are currently seeking refuge in Sudan.

  On 20 March police in Asmara investigating the activities of the Orthodox group of young adults known as Medhane Alem (possibly the same group monitored on 19 March), sealed their Sunday afternoon meeting place. The lay leader of the group was arrested and released a day later.

  By the end of March 2004 at least 385 Christians were imprisoned in Eritrea. The majority of those detained were young Christians and middle ranked leaders.

  On 22 April 2004 Mr Teklemaraiam Merkehazion a 62-year-old official in the Orthodox Church was summoned for questioning by government security and subsequently disappeared. An experienced journalist, it is reported that Mr Merkehazion had worked as chief editor of the church's two official publications since 1994 and had strongly advocated that the church maintain its autonomy and steer clear of government influence. Mr Merkehazion was challenged by the government official responsible for Religion and Faith Affairs and eventually forced out of his editorial post in 2002. However, just as his case began to receive greater international coverage, Mr Merkhazion was released on 10 November 2004, after spending seven months in jail.

  In a clear escalation of events, three senior Church leaders were arrested during May 2004. Rev Haile Naizge, chairman of the Full Gospel Church, Dr Kuflu Gebremeskel, chairman of the Eritrean Evangelical Alliance, Pastor Tesfatsion Hagos of the Rhema Evangelical Church in Asmara were initially held in police cells in the Eritrean capital. It was reported in August that the three leaders had been transferred from these cells to an unknown location. The three pastors are now thought to be held incommunicado in Wengel Mermera investigation centre, the dungeon-like inner prison in Asmara where many of Eritrea's prominent political prisoners are also believed to be incarcerated.

  Also incarcerated in May was singer Helen Berhane, 29, who had just released an album of music popular among young Eritreans. A member of the Rhema Church, she is reported to have been held in a shipping container at the Mai Serwa military camp since 13 May. She is also said to have refused to sign a paper recanting her faith and promising not to participate in Protestant activities. The News Agency Compass Direct recently reported that a military commander had said to Ms Berhane: "You will be allowed no visitors, and you will rot here until you sign this paper." The news agency also said that one of Ms Berhane's guards had reported her to the camp commander after he caught her listening to a Christian programme on a small radio in her container. As punishment she was transferred to an underground cell, where she was kept chained for two weeks.

  Another local Christian singer, Hamelmale Habtemichel of the Kale Hiwot Church, is reported to have been taken into custody in Mendefera during the third week of June for releasing a new musical recording. She was taken into custody along with music shop owner Tsegay Abraha, who had recorded and displayed the singer's tape in her shop. Both are said to have spent a month in custody before being released.

  On 25 July police in the town of Senafe disrupted a marriage ceremony, arresting 30 people, including the 80-year-old father of the bride, Woldegabriel Gebremichel, and his entire family. Those arrested were from the Kale Hiwot and Full Gospel churches, and a variety of renewal movements within the Orthodox churches. Twenty-eight were released after signing a document to the effect that they would not participate in any future evangelical weddings.

  There are reports that a renewed crackdown erupted during September 2004. On Friday 3 September, 25 teachers from Islamic Schools around Asmara are reported to have been detained in Wengel Mermera. Then on 6, 7 and 9 September a series of raids are reported to have resulted in the arrests of several hundred members of a variety of evangelical and Pentecostal churches. All of those arrested, including women and children, are said to have been incarcerated in Wengel Mermera. A prison source is reported to have put their number at over 700. However, CSW has yet to confirm this information.

  Compass Direct reports that on the evening of 7 September five members of the newly founded New Covenant Church were arrested while meeting for prayer in an office building in Asmara. They were detained for a day at Police Station No 2. The sole woman amongst them was released, but the four males were transferred to Adi Abeito military camp outside Asmara.

  CSW has recently received unconfirmed reports indicating that three Orthodox priests may have been detained during the third week of November 2004. One of these priests is said to be Eritrea's only psychiatrist. According to reports, all three were involved in the renewal movement within the Orthodox Church.