Source: www.persecution.org
Date: September 3, 2024
Sudan (International Christian Concern) — The ongoing war in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed thousands and displaced many million more. Estimates suggest that about 8.2 million civilians have been displaced since fighting between the groups broke out in April 2023, including many religious minorities who have long struggled to survive in the country.
Only about 5% of Sudan’s population is Christian, while about 91% identify as Sunni Muslim. The state of religious freedom in Sudan has been bleak for decades, with Christians severely persecuted during the 30-year reign of dictator Omar al-Bashir and the Sharia-based legal system he imposed.
Transitional Government
When Bashir was overthrown in 2019 in a military coup, it was unclear how the coup would change the fortunes of the county’s religious minority communities.
Initially, conditions seemed to be improving for religious freedom in Sudan. The new transitional constitution removed Bashir-era references to Sharia, and new Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok publicly promised to promote peace and tolerance. Sudan was quickly removed from the U.S. Department of State’s Countries of Particular Concern list of the world’s worst countries for religious freedom.
Hamdok managed to get Sudan removed from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list, making it eligible again for loans from the International Monetary Fund after a flurry of reforms, both political and civil. In his campaign to have Sudan removed from this list, Hamdok even invited the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to set up offices around the country—an attempt to demonstrate his confidence that the reforms would create real, lasting change on the ground.
Two years after the coup, in 2021, the Department of State even removed Sudan from the less severe Special Watchlist of countries with concerning states of religious freedom. The move indicated the international community’s confidence in the country’s reforms.
However, despite a few highly publicized overtures by the transitional government to human rights, including the repeal of the country’s apostasy law, the reality for Christians on the ground never improved during this time. According to the Tahir Institute for Middle East Policy, “Muslims who converted to Christianity continued to be prosecuted and tortured, even though the “crime” of apostasy officially no longer existed in the statute books.”
While the apostasy law was repealed, similar laws remained on the books. “Legislation such as the blasphemy law and most articles of the Family Law of 1991 stayed in place,” the Tahir Institute explains.
Hamdok’s success in repealing the apostasy law was only partially replicated in regard to the blasphemy law. In that case, the punishment for blasphemy was reduced from flogging to six months of imprisonment and a fine. However, the blasphemy law itself still stood and criminalized the voicing of a minority religious opinion, even if it carried a lesser sentence.
Civil War
The SAF and RSF together overthrew the civilian government led by Hamdok in 2021. However, that alliance fell apart in April 2023, prompting a devastating civil war that continues to this day and has utterly devastated Sudan’s civilian population, both Christian and Muslim. Both sides in the conflict have been recorded attacking churches, harassing members, and killing religious leaders.
According to reports, 165 churches have had to close since the war broke out. Some churches are used as bases for military operations in the war, with people sheltering there forced out or even killed to make way for soldiers. Members of the clergy have been singled out for particular violence, with soldiers shooting or stabbing priests and others during their raids.
The well-equipped SAF often bombs churches, indiscriminately injuring or killing those sheltering inside, including women and children.
A tiny minority in a country rocked by militancy and instability, Sudan’s Christians are in a particularly vulnerable place today. International efforts to quell the conflict have produced few results, and little seems to be happening to address the targeted violence against Christians caught in the crosshairs. The international community must increase its efforts to bring peace to Sudan and to protect the country’s fragile Christian population.
HOW TO PRAY: Pray for those affected by the 165 church bombings and the many priests that have been attacked and killed. Pray for the displaced and scared, that they would find comfort in the Lord.