Persecution of Ex-Muslims (Sudan)

Ex-Imam and lawyer imprisoned for his conversion to Christianity

El-Faqi, an ex-Imam and lawyer, was imprisoned in March 1998 following his conversion to Christianity. He is slowly becoming a problem for the Islamic government: many people have become Christians as a result of his testimony, and the government don't know what to do with him. The 'Christian Imam' has been transferred from one jail to another, but every time, the same thing happened: he told his fellow prisoners about Jesus, and has started 'jail churches' in all of the prisons he has been in, according to a recent report.

Sudan: Ex-Imam starts 'jail churches'
DAWN Fridayfax, 1999

Student who converted from Islam to Christianity is threated with death by his uncle. Arrested, beaten, and tortured by security police at his family's instigation. Fingernails pulled out with pliers. Under virtual house arrest

A Sudanese student who converted from Islam to Christianity was severely beaten and tortured by security police in Khartoum two weeks ago, apparently at his own family's instigation.

Mohammed Saeed Mohammed Omer Omer confirmed to Compass today that his uncle had threatened to kill him on September 19, just three days before he was arrested off a Khartoum street.

Omer's family had become determined to force the young convert to stop attending church and meeting with Christians, a local Christian said. Security officials picked him up on September 22, as he was returning from a personal discipleship appointment with a local pastor.

"He was tortured and beaten," the source said, "and he lost three fingernails pulled out with pliers." The convert reportedly was forced by security police to sign papers promising not to attend any church or Christian gatherings again.
. . .

After his uncle's death threat, Omer moved away from home to live with a friend. But since his arrest and torture, he remains under virtual house arrest by his family, who try to monitor his telephone calls and limit his use of the Internet.

Sudanese Police Torture Convert Student
Barbara G. Baker, Compass Direct, August 6, 2002

Convert to Christianity has her belongings burnt, is assaulted and thrown out by her husband, beaten and nearly knifed by her brother, and jailed. Another convert is under house arrest by her family

“He was so angry that he threw an armchair at me and injured my back,” she said. “As if this was not enough, he took out all his belongings from the house then set the house on fire. After I lost all my belongings, he then chased me away.”

She decided to run for refuge to her older brother, Nur Bubkier – who, having been informed of her conversion, responded by thoroughly beating her and trying to knife her.

Two Christians from the Sudanese Church of Christ, Maria Mohamud and a church deacon, managed to rescue her from the violence, but Halima Bubkier was jailed for three days at a police station, she said, on the false charge of “disrespecting Islam.” During that time Mohamud took care of her 2-year-old baby.
. . .
In Sahafa, five kilometers (three miles) south of Khartoum, another woman who left Islam is under a kind of house arrest by her family members for converting to Christianity.

Senah Abdulfatah Altyab was formerly a student of laboratory science at Sudan University of Technology, but today she is out of touch with the outside world. Her education came to an end after a film about Christ led to her conversion.
. . .

“She cannot receive calls,” Mostafh said. “Her brother forbids her from moving outside the homestead or even attending [St. Peter and Paul Catholic] church” in Amarat, Khartoum.

Converts from Islam Struggle to Survive
Compass Direct, April 13, 2009

Scholar calls for President Barack Obama's execution on the grounds that he is an apostate. Crowds chant "The apostate must be executed. The apostate must be executed. The apostate must be executed... Allah Akbar"

Following are excerpts from a statement by Sheikh 'Atiyya Muhammad Sa'id, a member of the Sudanese Islamic Scholars Association, at a rally. The statement was posted on the Internet on May 5, 2011:

Sheikh 'Atiyya Muhammad Sa'id: "May Allah have mercy on Osama bin Laden. May Allah place him along with the righteous and the martyrs, 'on whom there shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.' He sought not this world, but the world to come."

[…]

Crowds: "Down, down, USA.

"Down, down, USA.

"Down, down, USA.

"Down, down, USA.

"We are coming…

"We are coming…

"We are the Muslims…

"We are the Muslims…

Sheik 'Atiyya Muhammad Sa'id: "Allah Akbar. In the past century and in the century that has begun, we have sacrificed more than 100 martyrs for the sake of the da'wa.

[…]

"Oh Muslims, we will march on, for the sake of Allah."

Crowds: "Allah Akbar."

Sheik 'Atiyya Muhammad Sa'id: "We will wage jihad for the sake of Allah."

Crowds: "Allah Akbar."

Sheikh 'Atiyya Muhammad Sa'id: "We will establish the Islamic state."

Crowds: "Allah Akbar."

Sheik 'Atiyya Muhammad Sa'id: "By Allah, the state of Islam will be established upon the land, whether the infidels like it or not, whether the Jews like it or not, whether that apostate… What's his name… The one from America… Obama!

"Obama is a Muslim who has left the fold of Islam. Hence, Allah, the angels, and all the people curse him. He is a real apostate. Obama is an apostate. Obama is an apostate. He left the fold of Islam… "

Crowds: "The apostate must be executed.

"The apostate must be executed.

"The apostate must be executed.

"The apostate must be executed.

Sheikh 'Atiyya Muhammad Sa'id: "Oh Muslims, oh youth of Islam, the path of Osama bin Laden is our path."

Crowds: "Allah Akbar." […]

Sudanese Islamic Scholar Sheikh 'Atiyya Muhammad Sa'id: 'Apostate' Obama 'Must Be Executed'; 'The Path of Osama Bin Laden Is Our Path'
MEMRI, Dispatch No. 3826, May 9, 2011

Human Rights Watch fear torture of arrested female humanitarian worker accused of "christianizing" children. Government releases photos of her looking fatigued and bruised. May face the death sentence for apostasy

Abdallah, who was arrested on May 6, 2011, is a community activist from the Abu Shouk displaced persons camp in North Darfur and a staff member of the United Nations/African Union peacekeeping mission (UNAMID).
. . .

On May 8, Sudan's state news service published an article accusing Abdallah of "christianizing" children in displaced persons camps and of links to a rebel group. The crime of apostasy is punishable by death under Sudanese law. An accompanying photo of Abdallah holding a Bible shows visible signs of fatigue and what appear to be bruises on her face.

"We are deeply concerned that Hawa Abdallah is at risk of serious ill-treatment and torture," said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The government's own photo of her supports our concerns."

A group of armed national security personnel abducted Abdallah on the evening of May 6, at a residence in Abu Shouk village, near the displaced persons camp. They detained her in El Fasher, then moved her to Khartoum, according to sources in Darfur, but have not charged her or allowed her access to counsel or her family.
. . .

Authorities have refused requests by UNAMID peacekeepers to see Abdallah.

Sudan: Free Female Activist
Human Rights Watch, May 11, 2011

Husband, wife and baby thrown out of their home and attacked by knife-wielding assailants after relatives learn of conversion to Christianity. Brother breaks his Christian sister's leg, but hospital reluctant to treat an apostate

Christian refugees have been attacked by Islamic forces incuding in Darfur Region in northwestern Sudan, where evangelist Hawa Abdalla Muhammad Saleh was reportedly detained on May 9.

Authorities have accused her of owning and distributing Bibles to others in the Abu Shouk camp for Internally Displaced Persons in Al-Fashir, capital of North Darfur state, Christians said.

The evangelist was reportedly moved to the capital Khartoum by security agents and could be tried for apostasy, which carries the death sentence in northern Sudan, according to Christians with close knowledge about the situation. She was allegedly already tortured for six days in 2009.

Elsewhere in Khartoum, a Christian mother of a 2-month-old baby was recovering of her injuries Wednesday, May 25, and remained destitute after she and her husband were attacked for leaving Islam for Christianity.

Omar Hassan and Amouna Ahamdi, both 27, said knife-wielding, masked assailants on May 4 attacked them after relatives learned that they had converted from Islam to Christianity.

Hassan told Compass Direct News agency that he and his wife were renting a house from her uncle in Khartoum, but he ordered them to leave after learning they had left Islam.

They earlier fled Nyala, 120 kilometers (75 miles) southwest of El-Fashir, for Khartoum in June 2010. In the latest attack, a knife pierced the palm of Ahamdi, who said her brother had already stabbed her three times in the stomach nine months ago, seriously injuring her spleen, after she told him she had become a Christian.

In the violent outburst, her brother reportedly also broke her left leg. She was rushed to a local hospital, where personnel were allegedly reluctant to treat her because of her conversion.

Sudan Christians Flee Bloodshed; Attacks Continue
BosNewsLife, May 25, 2011

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