A church leader from the Sudanese Episcopal Church in Heban, in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains, was executed extrajudicially on 23 July along with six other people from the Otoro ethnic group, after they were arrested by the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM/N).

Reverend Adil Idris Jangoul was arrested by members of the SPLM/N at his residence in the church in the Erie neighbourhood of Heban on 23 July. According to reliable sources, all of his money was seized, but his arrest was not violent as he complied and cooperated without resistance. However, his body was later found alongside six others on the road. CSW sources report that they had been executed extrajudicially.  

In a related incident, members of the Otoro ethnic group killed at least 10 people and took at least 20 hostages, including children, in an attack on Heban which also occurred on 23 July. Among the hostages was Reverand Yakoub brahim Tia, the former General Secretary of the Sudanese Church of Christ who is from the Shawaya ethnic group, and six members of his family. All of the hostages were released safely on 28 July following appeals by church ministers from different ethnic groups in the Nuba Mountains.

The incidents are a continuation of several recent instances of tribal violence and attacks on places of worship in the Nuba Mountains, a region known for centuries for its ethnic and religious diversity and mutual respect.

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘CSW extends heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of Reverend Adil Idris Jangoul and those who were executed alongside him, and to those who were killed in the attack. We are highly concerned at the increasing violence, some of which appears to be ethnically motivated. It is especially perplexing as the Nuba Mountains has long stood as a bastion of peaceful co-existence, even amid Sudan’s decades of divisive dictatorship, and during the current conflict between the Rapid Support Forces and Sudanese Armed Forces. We call on authorities in the area to investigate these killings and de-escalate tensions as a matter of urgency. We particularly applaud the religious leaders from the Nuba Mountains who prayed and appealed for the release of Reverend Yakoub and the other hostages, and encourage them to work towards peaceful coexistence in the Nuba Mountains and throughout Sudan.’