Sudan Agrees with Rebels to Remove Islam as State Religion
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Astonishing reversal of Sharia Law, blasphemy laws, etc., etc.
Peace deals include bold pledges on religious freedom. But much work remains for transitional government after three decades under Bashir’s strict sharia.
JAYSON CASPER
Christianity Today
Lieutenant general Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of Sudan holds up a pen before signing a peace deal
with rebel groups on August 31.
In signing successive peace deals with entrenched rebel movements last week, Sudan drew upon the legacy of Thomas Jefferson.
“The constitution should be based on the principle of ‘separation of religion and state,’” read the text of an agreement between the North African nation’s joint military-civilian transitional council and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North (SPLM–N).
“The state shall not establish an official religion.”
The declaration of principles further cements Sudan’s efforts to undo the 30-year system of strict sharia law under President Omar al-Bashir, during which Islam was the religion of the state.
The agreement was signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, four days after a more inclusive peace deal was signed with a coalition of rebel groups in the Sudan Revolutionary Front in Juba, South Sudan.
The Juba agreement established a national commission for religious freedom, which guarantees the rights of Christian communities in Sudan’s southern regions.
Sudan’s population of 45 million is roughly 91 percent Muslim and 6 percent Christian. Open Doors ranks Sudan at No. 7 among the 50 nations where it is hardest to be a Christian.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) interpreted the agreement even more widely: to protect the rights of all Sudanese people to practice their religion of choice.
With a stronghold in the southern Nuba Mountains within the South Kordofan region, an area with a significant Christian population, the SPLM–N held out of the initial peace deal specifically because it did not guarantee the separation of religion and state.
“There’s no equal citizenship rights, there’s no distribution of wealth, there’s no equal development in the country,” one rebel leader told South Sudan in Focus.
“There’s no equality between black and Arab, and Muslim and Christian.”
But now including most of the major rebel movements in the western Darfur region and the Sudanese south, democratic transition can continue with national unity.
Following months of popular protests, Sudan’s military overthrew Bashir in April 2019. An interim constitution—which notably omitted reference to sharia law as the primary source of legislation—was signed in August 2019, establishing a ceasefire and a six-month window to achieve peace.
Negotiations began in late 2019, and the February 2020 deadline was extended.
Autonomy is granted to the southern regions of Blue Nile and South Kordofan. Darfur, which had been split into five regions, will be reunified under its own governor with a special revenue-sharing agreement.
Rebel parties will receive 35 percent of government ministries, and 75 seats in the upcoming 300-member transitional parliament. Individual militants will be incorporated into the national army.
Sudan is currently led by an 11-member Sovereign Council, with one member a Coptic Christian. Currently headed by a military figure, a civilian will take the helm halfway through the three-year transition ending in 2022, with new elections.
Since conflict erupted in Darfur in 2003, about 300,000 were killed with 2.7 million displaced from their homes. Thousands more were killed in the south since fighting began in 2011.
The civilian prime minister has already implemented significant changes.
In September 2019, Sudan and the United Nations agreed to open human rights offices in marginalized areas with significant religious minorities.
In December 2019, the public order law—used to punish individuals, especially women, in non-conformity with sharia law—was repealed.
And in July 2020, the Miscellaneous Amendments Act repealed the apostasy law, ended flogging for blasphemy, banned female genital mutilation (FGM), and permitted non-Muslims to drink alcohol.
The government additionally disbanded church councils used to control Christian congregations, declared Christmas a national holiday, and stated it is working on a uniform law for all religious worship.
But there is still much to do.
USCIRF noted that promised compensation claims for churches destroyed or confiscated during Bashir’s reign have been held up by bureaucracy. It called for full repeal of the blasphemy law, which still stipulates a six-month imprisonment. And much work is necessary to reform remaining Islamist imprints in the judiciary and Ministry of Education.
Despite earlier hopes, Christianity will not be introduced for the first time in the national school curriculum. One pastor has complained that compulsory Islamic education sometimes results in the forced conversion of Christians to Islam.
And following the July repeal of sharia-based measures, thousands of Sudanese rallied against the “apostasy government.”
Sudan has witnessed several failed peace deals in the past, and significant hurdles toward full religious freedom remain.
But Christian leaders are hopeful. “People here prefer to be cautious,” said Tombe Trille, Catholic bishop of El Obeid, capital of northern Kordofan, to the Vatican’s news agency. “But it is very important that a signature has finally been reached.
“We are all very happy.”
Will civil war break out again in Sudan because of devout Muslims? This is a fantastic step forward by Sudan, but I worry that it might be more fantasy than reality. Islam will not take a reversal lying down.
Turkish Muslim preacher accused of child sexual abuse
facing 55 years in prison
Ahval
Turkish prosecutors are demanding up to 55-years in prison for the leader of a religious order accused of sexually abusing a child, Birgün newspaper reported on Saturday.
Prosecutors in the country’s northwestern province of Sakarya are calling for the sentence against Fatih Nurullah (né Eyüp Fatih Şağban), the leader of the Uşşaki Islamic order, who is accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in the Akyazı district.
Nurullah was arrested on Wednesday following a complaint filed by the child’s family with authorities, which sparked a gendarmerie led raid on the group’s premises in Sakarya on Aug. 27.
Opposition news outlet Oda TV, in a report following his arrest which has since been banned by court order, published voice recordings of the cleric allegedly admitting to sexually abusing the child.
The four-page indictment submitted to Sakarya Chief Public Prosecutor’s office accuses the 58-year-old cleric of crimes, including successive sexual abuse of a child and denying an individual their freedom for the purpose of sexual abuse.
The ban on OdaTV’s report on the matter was extended to cover all news stories mentioning Nurullah and the case.
Of course, such things never happen in Islam. Pfft!
The Uşşaki group is a branch of the Khalwatiyya Sufi order founded by 15th century Islamic scholar Sayyid Hasan Husameddin.
Terrorists in Kashmir using ambulance for terror attack India
Pradeep Dutta, TimesNowNews
Pakistan sponsored Islamic State (IS) outfit used a private ambulance to transport terrorists along with weapons from South Kashmir to Srinagar outskirts to carry out a terror attack on BSF personnel.
Jammu: Another low in Pakistan sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Ambulance -that are meant to be a lifeline for the people are now being misused by terrorists to take away the lives of people in Kashmir valley.
This dirty modus operandi of Pakistan proxies came to light recently during the investigation of the Pandach terror attack, in which two BSF personnel were martyred.
Terror outfit, Islamic State of Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK), that was involved in this gruesome attack on security forces had used an ambulance to ferry terrorists from one place to other to launch terror strike.
Investigations revealed that on May 20, ISJK operatives preferred ambulance as a new mode of transportation for their terror-related activity.
How after shoot out ambulance helped terrorist flee?
To checkmate security agencies, the ambulance (JK01AD 0915) was used to ferry terrorists along with weapons from Bijbehara area in South Kashmir to Pandach area – 17 km from Srinagar city. On reaching Srinagar, these terrorists were provided motorbike and a scooty, arranged by their overground operatives to target BSF personnel deployed in that area.
Motor-cycle borne terrorists fired upon the BSF jawans at a picket in Pandach area. Two BSF personnel sustained bullet injuries on their forehead and died on the spot.
After committing crime these motorcycle-borne terrorists fled from the spot and once again boarded ambulance (this time another one numbering: JK01AF 9417) to flee back to their safe hideout in Bijbehara area.
"The terrorists were able to get through a security nakas by telling them that they were taking the patient to a nearby hospital,’’ explained one of the police officers. This way without any hindrance this ambulance carrying terrorists managed to cross different naka points en route.
"The reason is obvious. As terrorists were travelling in ambulance none of the security force personnel deployed on way could have any inkling of an ambulance being used for terror attacks,’’ senior police officer added.
The lid was blown off this dirty sinister plot during questioning of five ISJK operatives, who during different raids were arrested by J&K Police a few days back. During questioning, these operatives disclosed before probing sleuths that how the ambulance was used to help terrorists reach their destination. All the five accused played an important role in transportation, logistics, planning and executing of a terror attack.
A month later, two terrorists of ISJK who were involved in the attack were eliminated in two separate encounters at Zadibal, Srinagar and Hatigam, Bijbehara area. Looted weapons of BSF jawans were also recovered from slain ultras.
An ambulance was also used in the past for transporting arms
There are inputs that in the early 90s, when terrorism raised its ugly head in Kashmir Valley on several occasion, terrorists used ambulance of Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) – that was then a safe haven for Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) terrorists – for carrying arms and ammunition from one safe hideout to other.
An ambulance was also used by the Taliban for a suicide bombing in Kabul
In 2018, the Taliban in Afghanistan had used ambulance bomb killing 95 people and injuring 138 others in Chicken street area of Kabul. That time attackers drove an ambulance laden with explosives past a police checkpoint in a secure zone, home to government offices and foreign embassies.
Terrorists were able to get through the security checkpoint after telling police that they were taking the patient to nearby Jamuhriat hospital. On crossing first checkpoint terrorist detonated IED killing more than 90 people.
Albanian Police Apprehend Woman Convicted of Terrorism in Italy
From: Alice Taylor, Exit News, Albania
The Albanian Anti-Terror Directorate of the State Police in collaboration with Interpol has arrested a woman in Tirana who was declared wanted by the Italian authorities for terrorism.
The woman is currently in custody and is being interviewed by authorities.
Police announced that the 43-year-old Albanian citizen was internationally wanted for “participating in an organisation with terrorist intentions”. The announcement stated that the woman had been convicted in Italy and after it was understood she was in Tirana, the authorities worked with Interpol and law enforcement agencies in Italy to locate and arrest her.
The woman was declared officially wanted on 4 September after being sentenced to three years in prison for terror offences. She will now be extradited to Italy.
Turkish Yildirim operations neutralized 38 terrorists in eastern, SE Turkey
Ferdi Turkten | AA
ANKARA
Since mid-July, Turkish security forces have neutralized at least 38 terrorists on Turkish soil as part of the country’s Yildirim anti-terror operations, a government official said on Saturday.
During the group of nine Yildirim anti-terror operations, Turkey also destroyed 63 caves and shelters belonging to terrorists, Interior Ministry spokesman Ismail Catakli told reporters.
Turkish authorities often use the term "neutralized" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.
I wonder what the ratio of 'captured/killed' would be?
Operation Yildirim-1 Cudi, launched in the southeastern province of Sirnak on July 14, and its associated operations are meant to neutralize terrorists believed to be hiding out in eastern and southeastern Turkey.
Catakli also said that this August, Turkey neutralized a total of 81 terrorists on Turkish soil – during Yildirim and separate operations – including several on the ministry’s wanted list.
In August, Turkey carried out a total of 9,197 counter-terrorism operations in rural areas and 840 in provincial areas, he said.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
