More than 150 African Christians have been arrested and detained in unsanitary and inhumane conditions for gathering to worship without government consent.
Government officials in Eritrea, a country in northeast Africa, have arrested more than 150 Christians since June 23, holding some of them in an underground prison.
The most recent arrests occurred Aug. 18, when security officials took into custody 80 Christians in Godayef; these Christians are still being held at the local police station. Prior to those arrests, 70 members of the Faith Mission Church of Christ were arrested June 23.
The regime treats those that gather without consent as traitors who are conspiring with the West, especially Christians whom the government sees as Western spies, according to International Christian Concern (ICC).