Sharia (Islamic law) is the foundation of Sudan’s legal system, and leaving Islam is punishable by death; Christians who talk about their faith can be accused of an “act that encourages apostasy”. Christianity is seen as Western, making it a political target. Several Christians have been imprisoned in recent years, charged with “spying”. Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes including “genocide”, is believed to want to “rid” Sudan of Christianity. In 2016 the government announced plans to destroy 27 churches, claiming they were in violation of the designated purposes of the land they were built on.
Second church in 10 days torn down in Sudan
A Sudan Church of Christ (SCOC) building has been demolished in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, ten days after the destruction of another SCOC building in nearby Soba, 12 miles south of the city Christian charity Middle East Concern (MEC) reports that the second demolition took place on 17 May in Khartoum’s […]
UPDATE: Two Sudanese convicted of aiding Czech Christian ‘spy’ released
UPDATE [11 May 2017] – The two Sudanese men who were jailed with the Czech aid worker, Petr Jasek, were released from prison in Khartoum this afternoon after a presidential pardon. Abdumonem Abdumawla and Revd Hassan Abduraheem Taour were arrested in December 2015 for “aiding and abetting” Jasek in his alleged ‘spying’. In January this […]
Sudanese government destroys another church
Sudanese government officials demolished the Sudan Church of Christ (SCOC) building in the Soba region, 20km south of the capital Khartoum, on Sunday. Two church members were detained and interrogated but later released. The two men were arrested by Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) because they had refused […]
Part of church compound in Sudan illegally occupied
Police and an armed mob occupied part of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) compound last Wednesday (26 April), reports Middle East Concern (MEC). It is the same location where, earlier this month, two church members were stabbed during a protest against appropriation of a school there. The compound in […]
Sudanese Christian leader fatally stabbed at protest over seizure of church school
A Sudanese Christian was killed earlier this week while participating in a peaceful protest against the government’s attempted appropriation of a Christian school. Younan Abdulla, part of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC), was participating in the three-day protest, after the government-linked committee in 2016 authorised the sale of the land […]
360° view of forgotten war in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains
News agency IRIN has produced a video that offers a 360° view of the situation of the people of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan, a state in southern Sudan. (To experience a 360° view, play video, then “move” view by hovering your mouse.) The Nuba people, living on the border with […]
Sudan: Justice criticises NISS intelligence agency
Sudan’s Deputy Chief Justice has denounced “ongoing arbitrary arrests” by Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS). “The security apparatus should not be left to do whatever it wants,” said Justice Abdulmajid Idris, who also criticised long periods of detention without trial. The NISS has been involved in the arrest […]
Church demolition appeal due in Khartoum
The Bahri Court of Appeal in Khartoum was due to hear on 1 March the case relating to a government order to demolish 27 Christian places of worship, reports Radio Dabanga. An appeal lodged on 27 February succeeded in delaying the demolition of the churches, located north and east of […]
Czech shared Sudan prison cell with Islamic State convicts who beat him up and abused him
A Czech Christian aid worker, freed from prison in Sudan on 26 Feb, has spoken of how the prison authorities treated him. “The first two months were probably the most severe for me because I was placed in a cell together with members of the Islamic State, who humiliated me […]
UPDATE: Czech aid worker freed to fly to Prague after his Foreign Minister visits Sudan
UPDATE (26 Feb) A Czech aid worker, Petr Jašek, 52, detained in Sudan since December 2015, has been pardoned and freed by President Omar Bashir – after the Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaorálek visited Sudan this weekend to seek his release. He has flown back to Prague with the Foreign Minister today (Sunday […]