{"id":5568,"date":"2016-01-20T05:19:37","date_gmt":"2016-01-20T05:19:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/?p=5568"},"modified":"2016-01-20T05:20:43","modified_gmt":"2016-01-20T05:20:43","slug":"uscirf-release-eritrean-orthodox-patriarch-abune-antonios-for-immediate-release-january-19-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2016\/01\/20\/uscirf-release-eritrean-orthodox-patriarch-abune-antonios-for-immediate-release-january-19-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"USCIRF: Release Eritrean Orthodox Patriarch Abune Antonios \u00a0 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 19, 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) solemnly marks the 10 year anniversary tomorrow of the illegal removal and detention of Eritrean Orthodox Patriarch Abune Antonios as head of the Eritrean Orthodox Church.<\/p>\n

\u201cUSCIRF calls on the Eritrean government to immediately release Patriarch Antonios and allow him to return to his rightful position as head of the Eritrean Orthodox Church,<\/em><\/strong>\u201d said USCIRF Chairman Dr. Robert P. George.<\/p>\n

Eritrean authorities informed Patriarch Antonios on January 20, 2006 that he would no longer lead the country\u2019s largest religious denomination. The government took this action after Patriarch Antonios called for the release of political prisoners and refused to excommunicate 3,000 parishioners who opposed the government.\u00a0 On May 27, 2007, the Eritrean government replaced Patriarch Antonios with Bishop Dioscoros of Mendefera, forcefully removed the Patriarch from his home, and placed him under house arrest at an undisclosed location.\u00a0 Patriarch Antonios continues to be held incommunicado and reportedly is being denied medical care despite suffering from severe diabetes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis anniversary should remind us all that the Eritrean people are denied the fundamental, universal human right of religious freedom.\u00a0 The Eritrean government sends those whom they imprison for their religious beliefs to the harshest prisons and subjects them to the cruelest punishments.\u00a0 We must continue to shine the light on these prisoners of conscience until they are free,<\/em><\/strong>\u201d said Chairman George.<\/p>\n

President Isaias Afwerki has ruled Eritrea since 1993.\u00a0 His regime is among the most repressive in the world, with thousands of Eritreans imprisoned for their real or imagined opposition to the government and torture and forced labor are extensive. Between 1,300 and 2,000 people are imprisoned because of their religious beliefs, with the government torturing and beating religious prisoners, confining many in 20-foot metal shipping containers or underground barracks where some have been subjected to extreme temperature\u00a0fluctuations. Since 2002, the Eritrean government has registered only four religious communities – the (Coptic) Orthodox Church of Eritrea, Sunni Islam, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Evangelical Church of Eritrea \u2013 and maintains tight control over their internal operations and activities.\u00a0 No other religious group has been approved. Without such approval, no group legally can hold public religious activities.<\/p>\n

Since 2004, USCIRF has recommended, and the State Department has designated, Eritrea as a \u201ccountry of particular concern\u201d (CPC), for its \u201csystematic, ongoing and egregious\u201d violations of religious freedom.\u00a0\u00a0 For more information, please see USCIRF\u2019s chapter on Eritrea<\/a> in the 2015 Annual Report.<\/p>\n

To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at media@uscirf.gov<\/a> or 202-786-0613.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) solemnly marks the 10 year anniversary tomorrow of the illegal removal and detention of Eritrean Orthodox Patriarch Abune Antonios as head of the Eritrean Orthodox Church. \u201cUSCIRF calls on the Eritrean government to immediately release Patriarch Antonios and allow him to return to his rightful position […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_ml_titleColor":"#000000","_ml_titleFont":"Roboto","_ml_titleFontSize":1.1359999999999998987476601541857235133647918701171875,"_ml_titleFontWeight":"400","_ml_titleLineHeight":1.3000000000000000444089209850062616169452667236328125,"_ml_metaColor":"#708090","_ml_metaFont":"Montserrat","_ml_metaFontSize":0.67849999999999999200639422269887290894985198974609375,"_ml_metaFontWeight":"400","_ml_metaLineHeight":0.92000000000000003996802888650563545525074005126953125,"_ml_bodyColor":"#a9a9a9","_ml_bodyFont":"Open Sans","_ml_bodyFontSize":0.84999999999999997779553950749686919152736663818359375,"_ml_bodyFontWeight":"400","_ml_bodyLineHeight":1.1999999999999999555910790149937383830547332763671875,"_ml_wooPriceColor":"#666","_ml_wooPriceFont":"Open Sans","_ml_wooPriceFontSize":0.90000000000000002220446049250313080847263336181640625,"_ml_wooPriceFontWeight":"400","_ml_wooPriceLineHeight":1.270000000000000017763568394002504646778106689453125,"_ml_headingColor":"#000","_ml_headingFont":"Merriweather","_ml_headingFontSize":2.020000000000000017763568394002504646778106689453125,"_ml_headingFontWeight":"700","_ml_headingLineHeight":1.4699999999999999733546474089962430298328399658203125,"_mlglobal_userfontcolors":{"headingColorUser":[],"titleColorUser":[],"metaColorUser":[],"bodyColorUser":[],"wooPriceColorUser":[]},"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nUSCIRF: Release Eritrean Orthodox Patriarch Abune Antonios \u00a0 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 19, 2016 - 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