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.
Despite human rights abuse, Sudan wants US talks
Senior Sudanese and US officials are due to meet today (22 Sep.) in New York to discuss a possible partial lifting of sanctions on Khartoum, Sudanese media reports have said. The hint at possible “rapprochement” between Washington and Khartoum comes despite continued human rights violations by the latter; the Islamist […]
Prosecutor demands ‘harshest punishment’ for pastors charged with highlighting Sudan Christians’ suffering
A trial of four men, including two Sudanese church leaders and a foreign aid worker, resumed on 29 August in Khartoum, with Sudan’s prosecution accusing the defendants of highlighting alleged Christian suffering in war-ravaged areas of the country. The four defendants are a Czech Christian aid worker named Petr Jasek; […]
Sudan pastors charged for ‘claiming persecution of Christians’
The trial of two Sudanese church leaders has started in Khartoum. They are among four Christians accused of trying to tarnish the image of Sudan’s government. According to the Sudan Tribune, Rev. Hassan Taour and Rev. Kuwa Shamal were charged on Sunday (21 August) with “fabricating videos of incidents of claimed […]
Seven charges against Sudan’s pastors unlawfully detained for months
After eight months of legal limbo, Sudan has finally accused two pastors of at least seven crimes, some punishable by death if proven. Hassan Abduraheem Taour and Kuwa Shamal, both pastors of the beleaguered Sudan Church of Christ, “are accused of complicity to execute a criminal agreement and waging war […]
Unlawfully detained for months, Sudan church leaders finally in court
After nearly eight months of legal limbo, a Sudanese court has finally seen three detained Christian leaders, while charges against them remain officially “unknown”. Hassan Abduraheem Taour and Kuwa Shamal, both Sudan Church of Christ (SCC) pastors, and Abdulmonem Abdumawla Issa Abdumawla, appeared at the Bahri Criminal Court for a […]
Sudan: Nuba Christians face food crisis
The Nuba Mountains region of South Kordofan in Sudan, with a high proportion of Christians in the predominantly Muslim country, has a looming food crisis, according to . A mixture of poor harvests, an extensive government campaign of bombing farmland and markets, and resultant high food prices, will mean severe […]
Sudan charges 5 Christians over church dispute
A Sudanese court has charged five Christians over their attempt to stop an illegal acquisition of church property, according to a Christian advocacy group. On 10 July, 14 members of the Evangelical Church in Bahri were charged before the Bahri Criminal Court. All were fined between 300 and 500 Sudanese […]
Sudan’s Christians face ‘ethnic cleansing’
Five years ago today (11 July, 2011), South Sudan became the world’s newest country after seceding from the North. Following a lengthy dispute over where a border should be drawn, it was decided that Sudan’s predominantly Christian South Kordofan and Blue Nile states would remain in the mainly Sunni Muslim […]
Khartoum ‘bombs’ Catholic school in Nuba Mountains
The government of Sudan has bombed St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Primary School in Kauda, in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan, near its own border with South Sudan, according to local reports. Bishop Macram Max Gassis of the local diocese condemned the attack, which reportedly occurred during the afternoon of […]
Khartoum re-arrests pastor, holds others ‘pending serious charges’
Five months since his initial detention, Sudan’s intelligence agency has re-arrested a local pastor. Rev. Kuwa Shamal joins at least two more Christian leaders in prison, awaiting charges that could carry the death penalty. He was re-arrested on May 24 by members of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) […]