A Christian group in Omdurman, Sudan has been finally granted permission by the government to build a church on its own land.
The Christian Post reported that an Orthodox Church was granted by the Khartoum State government to build a church in its own land after being previously denied from doing so. The state's Governor Ayman Khalid Nim has agreed to review the case of the Orthodox Church last July 16.
The church's land is said to be located in a residential area giving reason for its Urban Planning Department for its construction plan. The Christian Post highlighted that the permission granted by the government to build the church was extraordinary considering Sudan is known to be a country where churches are actually destroyed.
Urban Planning Department representative Hassan Isa had informed the church in a notice for the banning of their construction and the needed steps to achieve its fulfillment.
"For the church to be able to use their land as a place of worship they must change their registration from residential to commercial use and must seek the permission of all neighboring properties," Isa said in the notice.
In addition, another reason the construction project of the Orthodox Church was put on hold was that two residents have opposed the building of the church. Christians are said to not have the same rights as Muslims in the country who can build mosques in residential areas besides given the privilege to use their homes as places of worship.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), an international advocate of religious freedom, reported in June that mosques are registered with the government as places of worship while there is difficulty getting registrations for churches.
CSW cited the case of the Sudanese Reformed Church who sought to require land in the Omdurman's Was-Albashir Camp in 2008 but was denied. It was only this year that the said church was visited by the engineering team of the Urban Planning Department and was told that they could not be given the registration for their place of worship because the Department "re-authorized" the land as a bus station.
CSW through its Founder and President Mervyn Thomas called on the government to review the case of the Orthodox Church last month and to have a clear policy on the registration of places of worship.
CSW pointed out that the practice of designating property for places of worship as "residential" and then penalizing the church for wanting to use their property for that purpose is "clearly discriminatory." They pointed out that this "lingering injustice from the al Bashir era" must be stopped and addressed because it may adversely affect Christian churches in Sudan.
"We call for an urgent review of this case, and for the creation of a clear and non-discriminatory policy to govern the registration of places of worship. We urge Sudan's Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments to work with the Urban Planning Department to ensure all faith communities in Sudan are treated equally," Thomas said in a statement.
Now that the government has heard their appeal, CSW disclosed that the government have assigned the governor to review the case and simultaneously dismissed Khartoum Bahri Executive Director Nagi Abdalla who was responsible for the signing numerous contracts "with illegitimate committees which resulted in the destruction of properties belonging" the Sudanese Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Abdalla was also responsible for the violations attributed to the church.
Thomas expressed gratitude that the government reversed its decision against the Orthodox Church who can now continue with their construction plans. He now called on the government to review the contracts signed by the locality on church properties and for the creation of a more transparent and clear process for property registration.
"CSW welcomes the reversal of the legally questionable and discriminatory decision to deny the Orthodox Church the right to build on its own land; however, we remain concerned by the lack of a clear process for the registration and construction of churches," Thomas stated."We also welcome the dismissal of Nagi Abdalla, and now call for an urgent review of the contracts he signed which led to the destruction of church properties in Khartoum Bahri."
"While we welcome the positive steps taken in this case, we remain concerned by the way the Sudanese government appears to resolve these cases on an ad-hoc basis. This decision-making process was adopted by the previous regime and it fundamentally undermines rule of law and good governance. We call for the formulation and implementation of clear and transparent processes for the construction and registration of places of worship, in order to ensure that all religious groups are treated equally," he stressed.
The Christian Post also disclosed that the Orthodox Church was granted to continue with its construction plans because of "external pressure," as per an email from CSW.
The Urban Planning Department, CSW said, still tried to oppose the permission even after the governor's decision on it was given. They have then advised the Orthodox Church to "permanently" define their land as a service purpose property since the Urban Planning Department might change their mind in the course of the year by refusing to renew the building's property since the property is "theoretically" a residential land.
