By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent
WASHINGTON D.C. (Worthy News)-- Dozens demonstrated at the Saudi Arabia Embassy in Washington demanding that Ethiopian Christians imprisoned for their beliefs be released.
Dr. Kassa Ayalew, an organizer of the demonstration, told The Christian Post that the religious discrimination Christians face in Saudi are not new.
"The Saudi persecution of Christians has been going on for a long time," said Ayalew. "The government should allow different people to have their religious rights respected in that country and the United States government should urge the Saudi government to release all of the people who are in jail for exercising their religious rights."
The embassy protest was in response to a police raid in Jeddah where 35 Ethiopian Christians were arrested during a prayer meeting held at a private home last December. According to International Christian Concern, their treatment has become even worse since the arrests.
"Our sources indicate they have been imprisoned without trial and have not been told when or if they will be released," ICC said in a statement. "The women report that they were strip searched upon their arrest and that unsanitary conditions during the search have led to illnesses among some of the prisoners for which they are unable to obtain proper medical treatment."
Saudi Arabia is listed by the U.S. State Department as a "Country of Concern" for human rights violations second only to North Korea.