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Militants forcing Christians caught between warring Islamist factions in Sudan to convert to Islam
Christians in Sudan are caught between two fighting factions, with each military group accusing them of siding with the other, an advocacy group said.
In Gezira state southeast of Khartoum, where rebel militants of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are forcing Christians in Al Thora Mobe village to convert to Islam, RSF militants accuse anyone of trying to flee of supporting the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
The village, a suburb of Wad Madani, has been under RSF control since December.
“It is also dangerous to flee, as the RSF has surrounded the village and accuses anyone who tries to leave the area of being affiliated with the SAF,” CSW said in a press statement, citing an area source. “However, those who do escape areas under RSF control risk being arrested by military intelligence and detained like the SCOC [Sudanese Church of Christ] members held in Shendi.”
In Shendi, River Nile state, SAF military intelligence in the past week arbitrarily arrested 26 fleeing men, most of them Christians, on suspicion of supporting the RSF. Fourteen were released Oct. 12-13, but the remaining 12 remain in detention, CSW stated.
“Most of the detained men are members of the Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) in Al Ezba, Khartoum North, and were forced to flee along with their families as fighting between the SAF and RSF intensified in the city,” CSW reported. “They were among 100 SCOC members who fled to Shendi in October.”
SAF military intelligence were arrested the men at the SCOC building in Shendi – six on Oct. 6, 10 on Oct. 10 and another 10 on Oct. 11.
“Military intelligence officers harassed, interrogated and finally detained the men, accusing them of being affiliated with the RSF,” CSW reported. “An eyewitness told CSW that all of the men were harassed and physically assaulted in front of their families.”
The men had travelled to Shendi with their families, including at least 25 women and 54 children, who now face a dire humanitarian situation and have been forced to stay in overcrowded conditions at the SCOC church building in Shendi, according to CSW.
“At the time of the arrests, the officers separated the men, women and children, and all males over the age of 18 were detained,” the group stated. “Those detained have not been allowed visits from family members or from their lawyers, and have not been formally charged with any crimes. They are held by the Almudada Unit of Military Intelligence, a notorious unit known to use torture and other forms of violence on detainees.”
The detained group, which includes at least one Muslim, belongs to the Moro Nuban tribe in South Kordofan state. The SCOC is a predominantly Nuba denomination that has suffered both religious and ethnic discrimination.
“We are deeply concerned by the arrest and detention of these men, who simply sought refuge for themselves and their families, yet have been subjected to unjust detention, unwarranted assaults and interrogation,” CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said. “We welcome the release of 14 of the men but are concerned by the continuing detention of the others. The circumstances of their arrest, the conditions of their detention, and the lack of access to their families and lawyers are egregious violations of their fundamental rights by the party to this conflict that occupies Sudan’s seat in international arenas, and which is therefore under a greater obligation to protect and respect the human dignity of all civilians.”
CSW called for the immediate and unconditional release of these men.
“We are also deeply concerned by the deteriorating humanitarian situation of internally displaced persons, and call on the authorities to ensure that support is provided for those who are enduring displacements over a year and a half into this conflict,” Thomas said.
Fighting in Sudan between the paramilitary RSF and the SAF broke out in April 2023. The conflict between the RSF and the SAF, which had shared military rule in Sudan following an October 2021 coup, has terrorized civilians in Khartoum and elsewhere, displacing 10.2 million people, 7.9 million of them internally, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency.
The SAF’s Gen. Abdelfattah al-Burhan and his then-vice president, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, were in power when civilian parties in March 2023 agreed on a framework to re-establish a democratic transition the next month, but disagreements over military structure torpedoed final approval.
Burhan sought to place the RSF – a paramilitary outfit with roots in the Janjaweed militias that had helped former strongman Omar al-Bashir put down rebels – under the regular army’s control within two years, while Dagolo would accept integration within nothing fewer than 10 years. The conflict burst into military fighting on April 15, 2023.
Both military leaders have Islamist backgrounds while trying to portray themselves to the international community as pro-democracy advocates of religious freedom.
Christian sites have been targeted since the conflict began.
In Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Sudan was ranked No. 8, up from No. 10 the previous year, as attacks by non-state actors continued and religious freedom reforms at the national level were not enacted locally.
Sudan had dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in six years when it first ranked No. 13 in the 2021 World Watch List.
Following two years of advances in religious freedom in Sudan after the end of the Islamist dictatorship under Bashir in 2019, the specter of state-sponsored persecution returned with the military coup of Oct. 25, 2021. After Bashir was ousted from 30 years of power in April 2019, the transitional civilian-military government had managed to undo some sharia (Islamic law) provisions. It outlawed the labeling of any religious group “infidels” and thus effectively rescinded apostasy laws that made leaving Islam punishable by death.
With the Oct. 25, 2021 coup, Christians in Sudan feared the return of the most repressive and harsh aspects of Islamic law. Abdalla Hamdok, who had led a transitional government as prime minister starting in September 2019, was detained under house arrest for nearly a month before he was released and reinstated in a tenuous power-sharing agreement in November 2021.
Hamdock had been faced with rooting out longstanding corruption and an Islamist “deep state” from Bashir’s regime – the same deep state that is suspected of rooting out the transitional government in the Oct. 25, 2021 coup.
The U.S. State Department in 2019 removed Sudan from the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) that engage in or tolerate “systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom” and upgraded it to a watch list. Sudan had previously been designated as a CPC from 1999 to 2018.
In December 2020, the State Department removed Sudan from its Special Watch List.
The Christian population of Sudan is estimated at 2 million, or 4.5 percent of the total population of more than 43 million.
Sources:Christian Post
world news
പെന്തക്കോസ്ത് മിഷന് ദോഹ-ഖത്തര് കണ്വന്ഷന് ജനുവരി 21 മുതല്
ദോഹ:മധ്യപൂര്വ്വ ദേശത്തെ രണ്ടാമത്തെ ആത്മീയ സംഗമമായി ദി പെന്തക്കോസ്ത് മിഷന് സഭയുടെ ദോഹ-ഖത്തര് കണ്വന്ഷന് 2025 ജനുവരി 21 മുതല് 24 വരെ ദോഹ ഐ ഡി സി സി ടെന്റില് വെച്ച് നടക്കും. ദിവസവും വൈകിട്ട് 6ന് സുവിശേഷ യോദവും ഗാനശുശ്രൂഷയും നടക്കും.സഊയുടെ പ്രധാന ശുശ്രൂഷകര് പ്രസംഗിക്കും. മിഷന് പ്രവര്ത്തകര് വിവിധ പ്രാദേശിക ഭാഷകളില് ഗാനങ്ങള് ആലപിക്കും.
ബുധന്,വ്യാവം രാവിലെ 7ന് ബൈബിള് ക്ലാസ്,10 ന് പൊതുയോഗം, ബുധന് ഉച്ചയ്ക്ക് 3 മുതല് 5 വരെ കാത്തിരിപ്പ് യോഗം,വ്യാഴാഴ്ച ഉച്ചയ്ക്ക് 3 മുതല് 5 വരെ യുവജന സമ്മേളനം,സമാപന ദിവസമായ വെള്ളി രാവിലെ 9ന് പൊതുയോഗം എന്നിവ നടക്കും.
ദീര്ഘ വര്ഷങ്ങള്ക്ക് ശേഷം തുടര്ച്ചയായി രണ്ടാം പ്രാവിശ്യമാണ് മധ്യപൂര്വ്വ ദേശമായ ദോഹയില് സഭയുടെ സുവിശ്ഷയോഗം നടത്തുന്നത്.
കേരളമുള്പ്പെടെ ഇന്ത്യയുടെ വിവിധയിടങ്ങളില് നിന്നും കണ്വന്ഷനുകളില് സംബന്ധിക്കുവാന് ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്നവര് മുന്കൂട്ടി രജിസ്റ്റര് ചെയ്യേണ്ടതാണ്.
world news
2 House Church Pastors Shot in Vietnam’s Central Highlands
Vietnam — Reports have surfaced of two independent house pastors being shot in different parts of Vietnam’s Central Highlands in recent months.
Pastor Y Hung Ayun, 62, and Pastor Y Pho Eban, 57, are part of the Ede people group and lead house churches that are not registered with the Vietnamese communist government.
Leaders and members of unregistered house groups are often harassed and oppressed by local and central government officials, particularly because they are not part of the government-sanctioned Evangelical Church of Vietnam. Both pastors have stated they believe the attacks on them are because of their ongoing unregistered church activities.
Two masked men on a motorbike shot Pastor Ayun with rubber bullets. The bullets have caused severe swelling and damage to his legs. Ayun has previously spent nine years in prison for his religious activities. Since the shooting, police have monitored him closer, and he must now notify authorities if he leaves the area.
Pastor Eban was shot in the leg as he worked on his coffee plantation. The bullets caused serious wounds, leaving Eban unable to walk.
Pastor Eban’s case is even more tenuous because his unregistered church has about 200 members and because he is the father of Christian activist Y Quynh Bdap, who is currently facing extradition from Thailand. Several ministries and NGOs, including International Christian Concern, have reported on Bdap’s situation, especially as he is likely to face an unfair trial, torture, or even death if he is extradited to Vietnam.
Sources:persecution
world news
അവശേഷിക്കുന്ന കത്തോലിക്ക സന്യാസിനികള് ഡിസംബറിനകം രാജ്യം വിടണം: നിക്കരാഗ്വേ ഭരണകൂടത്തിന്റെ അന്ത്യശാസന
മനാഗ്വേ: സ്വേച്ഛാധിപത്യത്തെ തുടര്ന്നു കുപ്രസിദ്ധിയാര്ജ്ജിച്ച നിക്കരാഗ്വേയില് അവശേഷിക്കുന്ന കത്തോലിക്ക സന്യാസിനികള് രാജ്യം വിടണമെന്ന് മുന്നറിയിപ്പ്. നിക്കരാഗ്വേ പ്രസിഡൻ്റ് ഡാനിയേൽ ഒർട്ടേഗയുടെയും ഭാര്യയും വൈസ് പ്രസിഡന്റുമായ റൊസാരിയോ മുറില്ലോയുടെയും സ്വേച്ഛാധിപത്യ ഭരണകൂടം മദര് തെരേസ സ്ഥാപിച്ച മിഷ്ണറീസ് ഓഫ് ചാരിറ്റി സന്യാസ സമൂഹം ഉള്പ്പെടെ വിവിധ സന്യാസ സമൂഹങ്ങളെ നേരത്തെ പുറത്താക്കിയിരിന്നു. രാജ്യത്ത് അവശേഷിക്കുന്ന സന്യാസിനികള് ഡിസംബറോടെ രാജ്യത്തിന് പുറത്തുപോകണമെന്നാണ് അന്ത്യശാസനം നൽകിയിരിക്കുന്നത്. മെത്രാന്മാരെയും വൈദികരെയും സന്യാസ സ്ഥാപനങ്ങളെയും ലക്ഷ്യമിട്ടുള്ള ഭരണകൂടത്തിന്റെ കത്തോലിക്ക സഭ വേട്ടയാടലിന്റെ ഏറ്റവും പുതിയ അധ്യായമായാണ് പ്രഖ്യാപനത്തെ ഏവരും വിലയിരുത്തുന്നത്.
1988 മുതൽ നിക്കരാഗ്വേയിലെ പാവപ്പെട്ടവര്ക്ക് ഇടയില് സേവനം ചെയ്തുക്കൊണ്ടിരിന്ന മിഷ്ണറീസ് ഓഫ് ചാരിറ്റിയെ 2022-ല് രാജ്യത്തു നിന്നു പുറത്താക്കിയത് ആഗോള ശ്രദ്ധ നേടിയിരിന്നു. രാഷ്ട്രീയ പ്രേരിതമായ കള്ളക്കഥകള് സന്യാസ സമൂഹത്തിന് നേരെ ആരോപിച്ചായിരിന്നു ഡാനിയേൽ ഒർട്ടേഗയുടെ ഏകാധിപത്യ ഭരണകൂടം പുറത്താക്കല് നടപടിയെടുത്തത്. ഇതിന് സമാനമായി മറ്റ് സന്യാസ സമൂഹങ്ങളെയും പുറത്താക്കി. 2022-ൽ അപ്പസ്തോലിക് ന്യൂൺഷ്യോയെ പുറത്താക്കിയതും നൂറുകണക്കിന് വൈദികരും ബിഷപ്പുമാരും രാജ്യം വിടാന് നിർബന്ധിതരായതും മെത്രാന്മാര്ക്ക് തടവുശിക്ഷ ലഭിച്ചതും ആശുപത്രികളിൽ വൈദികര് സന്ദര്ശിച്ച് പ്രാര്ത്ഥിക്കുന്നതിന് വിലക്ക് ഏര്പ്പെടുത്തിയതും ഉള്പ്പെടെ സഭയ്ക്കു നേരെ വലിയ വേട്ടയാടലാണ് ഭരണകൂടം നടത്തിക്കൊണ്ടിരിക്കുന്നത്.
രാജ്യത്തെ ഏകാധിപത്യ ഭരണത്തിനെതിരെ രൂക്ഷ വിമര്ശനവുമായി കത്തോലിക്ക സഭ നേരത്തെ മുതല് രംഗത്തുണ്ടായിരിന്നു.
ജനാധിപത്യത്തെ പിന്തുണയ്ക്കുന്ന സഭാനിലപാടാണ് കത്തോലിക്ക സഭയെ ഒര്ട്ടേഗയുടെ ശത്രുവാക്കി മാറ്റിയത്. മതസ്വാതന്ത്ര്യവിരുദ്ധ നടപടികൾ കൊണ്ട് കുപ്രസദ്ധിയാര്ജ്ജിച്ച നിക്കരാഗ്വേയുടെ ഭരണകൂടം മനുഷ്യത്വരഹിതമായ ഇടപെടല് ഉടനടി അവസാനിപ്പിക്കണമെന്ന് ഐക്യരാഷ്ട്ര സഭയുടെ മനുഷ്യാവകാശ ഉന്നതസമിതിയുടെ കാര്യാലയം നേരത്തെ ആവശ്യപ്പെട്ടിരുന്നുവെങ്കിലും ഫലം കണ്ടില്ല. ലാറ്റിന് അമേരിക്കന് രാജ്യമായ നിക്കരാഗ്വേയിലെ ജനസംഖ്യയുടെ ബഹു ഭൂരിപക്ഷവും കത്തോലിക്ക വിശ്വാസികളാണ്.
Officials from the Ortega regime had a meeting two months ago with the superiors of religious congregations in the country, in which they were told that residency permits would not be renewed for foreign priests and sisters once they expired, local sources told The Pillar.
“They also said that those who insisted on renewing their permits would be charged more than usual for the process and still be denied, so that they should not even bother,” a source close to the bishops’ conference told The Pillar.
Persecution against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua began during the 2018-2019 protests against the Ortega regime.
However, the dictatorship intensified the persecution two years ago, with a systematic campaign against religious congregations, starting with the expulsion of the Missionaries of Charity from the country.
A March 2022 law gives Nicaragua’s government new latitude to close civilly registered non-profits in the country and to limit the activity of foreign NGOs. The Ortega regime has used the law to expel various congregations from the country and see the country’s Catholic Charities operation dissolved.
Under this law, four Catholic universities, dozens of Catholic non-profits, and the legal entities under which many religious congregations operated were closed.
Under the law’s provisions, the assets of organizations that are voluntarily dissolved can be distributed to other organizations. But if the government dissolves an organization for any reason, its property can be seized, which has been the case for many institutions.
Many congregations have been expelled from the country under the 2022 law, including the Franciscans, Jesuits, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, and a female Trappist community.
In some instances, some members of these institutions remain in the country, but without any legal structure to support them. For example, a small number of Jesuits remain in Nicaragua.
Other congregations have silently left the country amid pressure and persecution.
Human rights activist Martha Patricia Molina told The Pillar that she is in touch with religious sisters in the country, who told her that they have received an ultimatum from the government – they must leave the country by December.
“It doesn’t matter if they’re foreign or nationals, they must leave,” she told The Pillar.
“Many congregations started slowly leaving recently, there are not many anymore in Nicaragua; in many cases, the government is not allowing them to take their religious belongings, such as pious images, they’re being forced to do an inventory of everything they’re leaving behind,” she added.
“These religious had their non-profits canceled, and most already fled the country. Their properties will be seized,” Molina warned in a post on twitter.com
News of the renewed persecution comes days after Pope Francis published a pastoral letter to the Nicaraguan people. In it, the pope encouraged trust amid difficulty, saying “precisely in the most difficult moments, when it becomes humanly impossible to understand what God wants from us, we are called not to doubt His care and mercy.”
Since the start of the persecution against the Catholic Church, the Nicaraguan regime has forced the closure of dozens of Catholic TV and radio stations, the dissolution of the legal structures of religious congregations, Catholic universities, and Catholic foundations, and the seizure of their properties.
More than 250 clergy and religious have been forced into exile, including four bishops and almost 20% of the country’s priests.
On November 12, the president of the Nicaraguan bishops’ conference, Bishop Carlos Herrera, OFM, was forced into exile after criticizing a pro-regime mayor during Sunday Mass in the Jinotega cathedral.
In recent weeks, the regime has faced criticism for forbidding priests from accessing public hospitals, not allowing them to visit people who have requested pastoral visits or the reception of the sacraments of anointing of the sick or penance.
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