EritreaOpen Doors reports that Nigsti Haile, 33, has become the fourth Eritrean Christian in the past year to be killed in custody for refusing to recant her faith.  She was tortured to death Wednesday, 5 September, at the Wi'a Military Training center near Massawa.

Haile was one of 10 single Christian women arrested at a church gathering in Keren who have spent 18 months under severe pressure.

Eritrea outlawed independent Protestant churches in May 2002, closing their buildings and banning them from meeting even in private homes.  Haile was a member of a Rhema church, an independent Protestant group, according to Open Doors.

Last February, Magos Solomon Semere died from the effects of torture and pneumonia after four years in an Eritrean jail.  In October 2006, two Christians died of torture after two days of incarceration.

Since May 2002, all churches except Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Evangelical Lutheran have been illegal in Eritrea.  Despite their presumptively legal status, Orthodox and Catholic churches have been persecuted.

Over 2000 Christians, mostly independent charismatic Protestants, are presently jailed without charge and held in appalling conditions.

h/t: Voice of the Martyrs Canada

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