Stop “destabilizing an already fragile region”: Christian Entity after Release of Christians Detained in Eritrea

“Regrettably, those released constitute a mere fraction of Eritrea’s arbitrarily detained prisoners of conscience, among them senior church leaders and prominent pro-democracy government officials held incommunicado and without trial for over 20 years,” the CSW official says.

CSW  says that the majority of the 177 Eritrean Christians from proscribed churches who were freed from arbitrary detention by the Eritrean government included students who were arrested while recording worship music for YouTube in April 2023.

A series of conditional releases began on 18 November 2025, when 16 men and three women were released on bail from a prison in Keren, CSW says in reference to BBC Tigrinya report.

The Christian entity goes on to report that on 3 December 2025, 10 men and 16 women were released; 36 members of the Full Gospel Church - 16 men and 20 women - were released on December 11, and 17 were released on December 12.

While the prisoners released on 3 December had been detained arbitrarily for three years, most of those released since  December 11 had been held in the infamous Mai Serwa Prison for close to five years, the CSW report indicates.

More in Africa

Stop “destabilizing an already fragile region”: Christian Entity after Release of Christians Detained in Eritrea

Read the article

CSW says that the majority of the releases were conditional as the prisoners were obliged to sign a document confessing to having committed a crime by joining a proscribed denomination, promising not to do so again, and accepting full responsibility for any punishment they face if they disobey.

The report further says that in May 2002, Eritrea closed all churches not affiliated with the Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran, and Orthodox Christian traditions.

CSW says that the authorities also launched an ongoing campaign of arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention, which continues to date, with adherents of unrecognized denominations regularly imprisoned indefinitely in inhumane, life-threatening conditions.

“Religious adherents are among tens of thousands of prisoners of conscience held arbitrarily and indefinitely in more than 300 sites across the country where food, potable water, and medical assistance are scarce, and torture occurs routinely,” CSW says in the January 30 report.

The UK Christian entity says that minors are also not spared from the persecution.

In early December 2025, reports also emerged of the release of 13 detainees from Mai Serwa who had been held arbitrarily for nearly 18 years, including a former Olympian who competed in the 1980 Moscow Games, two businessmen, and six senior policemen.

CSW reports that some Eritrea observers are attributing the releases of Christians in late 2025 to a regular routine in which largely young people who have spent up to three years in prison are freed, making room for further arbitrary arrests.

However, other observers are said to speculate that the series of releases, and particularly those of detained Christians, may have been part of an effort by Eritrea to reset relations with the US following the return of the President Donald Trump Administration. 

Silas Mwale Isenjia is a Kenyan journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communication from Moi University in Kenya. Silas has vast experience in the Media production industry. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.