September 2025 marks one year of unjust imprisonment for two elderly sisters in Eritrea. On September 27, 2024, Sister Berekti Habte, who is 84 years old, was detained during a raid on the home of 86-year-old Sister Letebrhan Tesfay, where a peaceful meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses was being held. Three days later, the authorities returned and took Letebrhan into custody. Currently, the two sisters are being held at Adi Abeto Prison.

Both of these sisters have served Jehovah for many decades. Letebrhan, who was baptized in 1957, was one of the first Witnesses in Eritrea. Additionally, eight of her children are dedicated servants of Jehovah. One of them, 52-year-old Sister Hadassa Zerisenay, was also arrested during the September 2024 raid. Hadassa is currently being held at Mai Serwa Prison. Berekti was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1974 and has served Jehovah faithfully over the past five decades.

Presently, there are 64 of Jehovah’s Witnesses in prison in Eritrea. Of these, 14 are over the age of 60. The youngest, Sister Sidon Tekeste, is just 17 years old and has been held at the Mai Serwa Prison since November 2024. None of these individuals have ever been formally charged or put on trial. Inside the prison, officials regularly deny imprisoned Witnesses medical care and subject them to inhumane treatment. Commenting on the severe conditions in Adi Abeto Prison, one sister who was released from there in January 2025 said: “It is a very difficult situation. The prison is overpopulated. Inmates, including our elderly brothers and sisters, only have a space some 40 to 60 centimeters (15 to 20 in.) wide on which to sleep. Because of that, you can only sleep on your side, making it extremely challenging to even turn over. To me, it seems like prison officials are trying to break our elderly ones by deliberately mistreating them.”

These deplorable conditions and the blatant disregard for human rights in Eritrea have drawn the attention of many prominent international organizations. For example, in May 2025, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea urged the country’s government to “release immediately and unconditionally all those arbitrarily detained” and to “halt the persecution of individuals based on their religious beliefs.” Thus far, the government of Eritrea has ignored such pleas and continues to actively persecute Jehovah’s Witnesses for their peaceful beliefs.

As a united worldwide brotherhood, we pray for the release of all our brothers and sisters unjustly imprisoned in Eritrea. We remain confident that with ‘the spirit of God resting upon them,’ they will continue to faithfully endure these intense trials.—1 Peter 4:14.