Woman tortured for her faith by Eritrean officials

ASMARA, Eritrea — Eritrean authorities tortured a woman to death Sept. 5 for refusing to recant her Christian faith. This is the fourth such killing in less than a year, according to Open Doors, a Christian persecution and human rights watchdog. Open Doors confirmed the death of 33-year-old Migsti Haile at the Weaa Military Training Centre; she was one of 10 single, Christian women arrested at a church gathering in Keren and spent 18 months imprisoned and under severe pressure.

On Feb. 15, Magos Solomon Semere died under torture at the Adi-Nefase Military Confinement facility outside Assab, and last Oct. 17, two other Christians died from torture wounds in Eritrea. Two days after Immanuel Andegergesh, 23, and Kibrom Firemichael, 30, were arrested for holding a religious service in a private home south of Asmara, they died from torture injuries and severe dehydration in a military camp outside the town of Adi-Quala, eyewitnesses said.