11/1/2024 Sudan (International Christian Concern) — Speaking to the U.N. Security Council earlier this week, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the severe human rights violations taking place in Sudan but demurred on the question of deploying a U.N. peacekeeping force to the country.

Currently the site of an ongoing civil war and the world’s largest displacement crisis, Sudan is gripped by violence that is severely impacting civilian life, including religious practice.

Guterres highlighted the war’s effect on civilians, including the many who have experienced sexual violence and ethnic targeting. Sudan has seen these types of atrocities in the past, perhaps most notably during the Darfur genocide that stretched from early 2003 to 2005. Violence is again plaguing the Darfur region.

The combatants in the war — the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — worked together to overthrow the civilian government led by Abdalla Hamdok in 2021. However, their alliance collapsed in April 2023, prompting a devastating civil war that continues today and has devastated Sudan’s civilian population.

Only about 5% of Sudan’s population is Christian, while about 91% identify as Sunni Muslim. The state of religious freedom in Sudan has been bleak for decades, with Christians just recently coming out of the 30-year reign of dictator Omar al-Bashir and the Sharia-based legal system he imposed.

According to reports, 165 churches have had to close since the war started in 2023. Some churches are used as bases for military operations in the war, with people sheltering there forced out or even killed to make way for soldiers. Members of the clergy have been targeted, with soldiers shooting or stabbing priests and others during their raids.

The well-equipped SAF often bombs churches, indiscriminately injuring or killing those sheltering inside, including women and children. At the same time, the RSF is known to attack attendees and leaders of churches and to seize church buildings. Both sides blame the other for atrocities against civilians but deny responsibility for attacking civilians themselves. Afraid of losing leverage or battlefield advantage, both sides have also blocked humanitarian assistance from reaching those in need.

Also speaking to the Security Council this week, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield condemned how both sides have weaponized aid meant to relieve civilian suffering. “Millions are going hungry because of access,” she said, and government officials “continue to undermine, intimidate, and target humanitarian officials.”

A tiny minority in a country rocked by militancy and instability, Sudan’s Christians are in a particularly vulnerable place. International efforts to quell the conflict have produced few results, and little seems to be happening to address the targeted violence against Christians caught in the crosshairs. The international community must increase its efforts to bring peace to Sudan and to protect the country’s fragile Christian population.

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