"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, for the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed."
- Isaiah 61: 1
On May 22 2002, the PFDJ (the ruling party of Eritrea) ordered the closure of all churches not belonging to the Orthodox, Roman Catholic or Evangelical Lutheran denominations.
On several occasions since then the Eritrean government issued blanket denials of the existence of persecution in the country stating that 'no groups or persons are persecuted in Eritrea for their beliefs or religion' and that people were 'free to worship according to their wish'.
The unitary one-party presidential republic's human rights record is considered by Human Rights Watch to be among the worst in the world.