Sudan: Khartoum’s Jihad to Eliminate Opposition

Sudan: Khartoum’s Jihad to Eliminate Opposition

A Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin by Elizabeth Kendal, Special to ASSIST News Service

KHARTOUM, SUDAN (ANS – November 17, 2016) -- The Islamist and Arabist Government of Sudan (GoS) is waging a jihad to eliminate opposition to its Islamist and Arabist policies. The GoS’s policy of racial and religious genocide is rooted in an April 1993 fatwa which labelled the marginalised non-Arab Muslims rebelling against the state as “apostates”, and the long-persecuted non-Muslims (mostly Christians) as “kaffirs (infidels) standing in the way of Islam”, and decreed that “Islam has justified the fighting and the killing of both. . .”

Because the US is hungry for Sudanese intelligence on Islamic militant organisations, and the EU is desperate for Sudanese cooperation to stem the flow of migrants, the GoS gets to commit its crimes against humanity with near total impunity.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) has suspended peace talks with the GoS in response to Amnesty International’s September 29th report – “Scorched Earth, Poisoned Air” – on the GoS’ use of chemical weapons in Darfur. As has been previously reported, the GoS has also used chemical weapons in the Nuba Mountains. The SPLM-N has long maintained that the GoS is not serious about peace, and only engages in peace talks so it can prolong humanitarian crises.

Today, with roads become passable again now the wet season is over, the SPLM-N warns that Khartoum “is building up military forces from its militias and army, preparing for a dry-season offensive in the Nuba Mountain and Blue Nile.” As we prepare for Christmas, the Christians of the Nuba Mountains are preparing for another season of aerial bombardment and genocidal jihad.

Meanwhile, Christian schools and churches operated and frequented by ethnic Nuba and other “southerners” are coming under increased pressure. In Wad Madani, the capital of Al Jazirah state, a Christian school belonging to the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church has endured more than two months of intense harassment, intimidation and pressure. Established in Wad Madani (188 km - about 117 miles - southeast of Khartoum) by the American Mission in 1901, the Evangelical Basic School has 1,000 students aged 3 to 18.

In September the GoS accused the community of providing material support to the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North (SPLA-N): a charge the school denies. The school was subsequently raided three times in two months. The principal, a dozen teachers and another pastor were arrested, questioned and bailed (at great expense). Furthermore, the National Ministry of Guidance and Endowments attempted to take over the school. On November 14, in response to parent protests, Wad Madani’s Appeal Court for Administrative Affairs cancelled the order to close the highly regarded school. This does not mean the battle is over! Meanwhile in Khartoum, five churches have received notifications that their buildings will be demolished: three belonging to the Sudan Church of Christ (SCOC), one to the Presbyterian Church and the other to the Episcopal Church in Sudan.

Also in Khartoum, the trial of Nuba pastors Rev. Hassan Abdelrahim and Rev. Kuwa Shemaal, Darfuri student and convert Abdelmoneim Abdelmoula, and Christian aid worker Petr Jasek (a Czech national) continues. On November 3, investigator Abdelrahman concluded the argument for the prosecution. Jasek stands accused of giving money to “some individuals” (ethnic Nuba) which the prosecutor maintains amounts to support for the war against the state. For investigating and reporting persecution, Jasek stands accused of “espionage” and “tarnishing Sudan’s image internationally”.

For speaking at an international conference about the plight of Sudan’s persecuted Church, the Reverends Hassan and Kuwa stand accused of ‘inciting hatred against the state’. Darfuri convert Abdelmoneim Abdelmoula stands accused of being an accomplice in these ‘subversive activities’. Cross examination commenced on Monday Nov. 7, and continued on Nov. 14. The case for the defense has now begun. Doubtless the GoS would like to use this trial as a warning to others, so as to silence all talk of persecution and genocide.

Please Pray Specifically That:

* the Spirit of God will fortify all Sudan’s pastors, evangelists, teachers and other Christian leaders, providing them with all the wisdom and grace they require as they lead Christ’s flock though dark and stormy times.

* God, who rules over heaven and earth, will intervene in the trial of the Reverends Hassan and Kuwa, Abdelmoneim Abdelmoula, and Petr Jasek: comforting, sustaining and equipping the believers, and gracing Khartoum’s judges with insight and the courage to deliver justice.

* the Lords of hosts will deliver Sudan from this evil regime. “Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted. Break the arm [mechanism of action / means of power] of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none” (Psalm 10:12, 15 ESV).

Prayer for Sudan: Psalm 10:

“O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;

you willstrengthen their heart; you will incline your ear

to do justice to the fatherless andthe oppressed,

so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more”.(Psalm 10:17-18 ESV)

Photo captions: 1) Starving children hunting for ants to eat in the Nuba Mountains. The following two pictures show those on trial for their lives: “They stand accused of several crimes against the State, but their only ‘crime’ is standing in solidarity with the persecuted church in Sudan.” (Persecution Project Foundation). 2) Petr Jasek with a disabled child in Sudan. (Voice of the Martyrs). 3) Reverends Hassan and Kuwa. (Middle East Concern). 4) Elizabeth Kendal.

About the writer: Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She began working with the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC) in July 1999, serving as Principal Researcher and Writer from January 2002 until April 2009 when she resigned in order to work independently. Elizabeth is an Adjunct Research Fellow in the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at the Melbourne School of Theology, and the Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF). In December 2014, Wittenberg Seminary (Canada) awarded Elizabethan honorary Doctor of Ministry degree. Since July 1999 she has published a weekly religious liberty prayer bulletin to help facilitate strategic intercessory prayer, and well as routine reports containing additional religious liberty news and analysis. She is the author of two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec. 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and, After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). For more information see: www.ElizabethKendal.com.

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