Eleven years in Eritrea prison—no charges, no trial
Paulos Eyassu, Isaac Mogos, and Negede Teklemariam—their faces have become familiar. The photo was taken during the second year of what is now 11 years of imprisonment. No charges have ever been filed against them, and they were never given a trial. They are denied visitors, including family members. The Sawa prison camp has been their uninviting “home” since September 24, 1994. They are hardly any security threat; they were imprisoned because of their conscientious objection to fighting, their religiously based refusal to participate in military service. In Eritrea, the national military service requirement has no regulations or provisions for conscientious objection. To avoid being arrested by the ever-present Military Police who patrol the streets, most men who are Jehovah’s Witnesses between the ages of 18 and 40 are in hiding at risk of arrest as they attempt to comply with Scriptural directive to “beat their swords into plowshares” and not “learn war anymore.”—Isaiah 2:4. When a young man is arrested, he is taken to a military camp, detained, often severely beaten and forced to undergo various other forms of torture. The prison term for refusing to serve in the military is three years. The three men have thus served nearly four prison terms without ever being charged or tried. As of June 2005, in Eritrea, nine of Jehovah’s Witnesses remain in prison as conscientious objectors to military service. Media Contact: Peter Maina
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