Sudan's Christians at risk as hard-line Islamists tighten grip

Khartoum 25 October 2022

Thousands of peaceful Sudanese protesters were met with tear gas this week on the first anniversary of the country's military coup. Away from the streets of Khartoum, a state of emergency has been declared in Blue Nile where regime proxies allegedly killed an estimated 250 ethnic Black Africans. This comes as diplomats brokering negotiations between the junta and opposition urged the military not to resort to more violence.

According to Lord Alton who is secretary of the UK's All Party Parliamentary Group on Sudan and South Sudan, "Sudan's military elite is up to its old tricks, stirring up ethnic conflict over land in the country's poor, neglected regions. These tactics enable its own supporters to claim property by using proxy forces who attack minority groups. Since the military coup a year ago, the security situation in Darfur, Blue Nile and Kordofan has deteriorated dramatically, with innocent civilians killed in their hundreds and displaced in their thousands. The UK should place targeted smart sanctions on the leaders responsible for this misery."

The Islamists are back

In 2019, thirty years of Islamist military rule ended after massive popular democracy protests overthrew Field Marshall Omar Bashir, indicted by the ICC for genocide in Darfur. However, the security services seized power from a civilian-military transitional government in October 2021. The junta claims to be consolidating power to protect the transition, saying the military will eventually hand over to civilians, thereafter staying out of politics.

Since the coup, the rapid reinstatement of discredited Islamists in the country's civil service has caused alarm among pro-democracy groups, civil society and Christians. The transitional government, established after the 2019 popular uprising, had purged the civil service of Islamists due to their alleged corruption. As reported previously on ICN Christians are facing a fresh wave of arrests, harassment, and the confiscation and destruction of church property. Many Christians live in the marginalised areas of South Kordofan and Blue Nile, and in informal settlements and displaced people's camps around the capital, Khartoum.

Despite diplomatic efforts, little progress has been made forming a new government representing civilian aspirations. The military is reported to have agreed on a draft constitutional document written by the country's Bar Association. This would allow the appointment of a civilian prime minister who would lead the country through elections by 2024. However, the future role of the military remains contentious because Sudan's broad network of community resistance committees have little faith the junta will keep its word.

Peace without justice?

Sudan commentators warn that even if a constitutional settlement is reached, there will be no lasting peace without justice for hundreds of thousands of Sudanese from the marginalised regions who were killed by the Bashir regime. Human Rights Watch reports that the coup leaders have faced no consequences for the repression of civil society since they seized power a year ago.

Human rights groups have urged President Biden to apply targeted smart sanctions on coup leaders to prevent further unchecked corruption and plunder of state resources. In a letter signed by leading activists including Lord Alton, the US president was warned that the Sudanese regime was falling back on a tried and tested strategy, deliberately pretending to cooperate while buying time to establish full control. The activists warned of a dangerous trend toward the normalisation of military power.

Land Grab

Sudan experts believe the violence and land grabbing in Blue Nile state and the other marginalised regions is being stoked by the military elite in Khartoum as a way of rewarding their supporters in peripheral areas. Videos on social media show armed militia from the Hausa ethnic group taunting the Berti people, calling them "pagans" and "drinkers". In the video they threaten to behead the local Berti leader, using the invocation, Allahu Akbar (Allah is greater).

Volker Perthes, the UN's special representative in Sudan, commented recently that "a country with 5, 6, 7 or more different armies will never be stable." He said military leaders should not play a political role and political leaders should not have private armies.

The Putin Connection

Under the military regime, Sudan has renewed its close ties with Russia, exporting gold to bolster President Putin's balance of payments, and utilising the controversial Russian mercenary Wagner Group, accused of war crimes in Africa.

Yet, analysts say Sudan desperately needs access to the international financial markets. Inflation reached 395% in 2021, and decades of asset stripping by the elite has hollowed out the economy. Arguably, there will be neither peace nor prosperity while Sudan sides with Russia, thereby deterring international financial organisations like the IMF or World Bank from lending assistance.

Activists in Sudan and beyond continue to urge the UK, US, EU and other concerned international actors to apply tough target sanctions on those implicated in human rights abuses during Bashir's reign and since the coup.