‘Repeal death sentence for apostasy in Sudan’: US Secretary
United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, criticised Sudan on Thursday for sentencing a Christian woman to hang for apostasy. “I traveled to the region many times to help find greater understanding and hope for a different kind of future. As Secretary, I remain deeply committed to the country and its people. That is one of the reasons we are all so concerned about the travails of Maryam Yahya Ibrahim.” He urged Khartoum to respect the fundamental right to freedom of religion, and to repeal its laws that ban people from converting their faith, as they are inconsistent with its 2005 Interim Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. “Ibrahim and the children should be reunited at home with her family rather than held in prison on charges of apostasy.” Ibrahim, who is the daughter of a Muslim man, stated in court on 15 May that she has been brought up as a Christian after her father abandoned her when she was six. The pregnant mother therefore refused to renounce her Christian faith. International condemnation The Sudanese court nevertheless found her guilty of ‘apostasy’ and ‘adultery’, for marrying a Christian as a Muslim woman, and sentenced her to 100 lashes and death by hanging. The Criminal Code states that a pregnant woman sentenced to death must give birth, which Ibrahim did on 27 May, and nurse her child for two years before her execution can go ahead. She has been held in Omdurman Federal Women’s Prison since 17 February, with her 21-month-old son and her newborn baby. The President of the European Commission, the European Council, and the European Parliament underlined Sudan’s international obligation to protect the freedom of religion and belief in a press release on Tuesday. The Sudanese government has given contradictory statements about her possible release. Also, Ibrahim’s lawyers had submitted an appeal to the court in Khartoum, which however claimed to have never received such an appeal. File photo: Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti at the US Department of State in Washington in 2013. (Courtesy: State Dept) Related: EU Presidents urge Sudan to revoke death sentence (10 June 2014) Human rights appeal by condemned Sudanese mother (2 June 2014)
United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, criticised Sudan on Thursday for sentencing a Christian woman to hang for apostasy.
“I traveled to the region many times to help find greater understanding and hope for a different kind of future. As Secretary, I remain deeply committed to the country and its people. That is one of the reasons we are all so concerned about the travails of Maryam Yahya Ibrahim.”
He urged Khartoum to respect the fundamental right to freedom of religion, and to repeal its laws that ban people from converting their faith, as they are inconsistent with its 2005 Interim Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“Ibrahim and the children should be reunited at home with her family rather than held in prison on charges of apostasy.” Ibrahim, who is the daughter of a Muslim man, stated in court on 15 May that she has been brought up as a Christian after her father abandoned her when she was six. The pregnant mother therefore refused to renounce her Christian faith.
International condemnation
The Sudanese court nevertheless found her guilty of ‘apostasy’ and ‘adultery’, for marrying a Christian as a Muslim woman, and sentenced her to 100 lashes and death by hanging. The Criminal Code states that a pregnant woman sentenced to death must give birth, which Ibrahim did on 27 May, and nurse her child for two years before her execution can go ahead. She has been held in Omdurman Federal Women’s Prison since 17 February, with her 21-month-old son and her newborn baby.
The President of the European Commission, the European Council, and the European Parliament underlined Sudan’s international obligation to protect the freedom of religion and belief in a press release on Tuesday.
The Sudanese government has given contradictory statements about her possible release. Also, Ibrahim’s lawyers had submitted an appeal to the court in Khartoum, which however claimed to have never received such an appeal.
File photo: Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti at the US Department of State in Washington in 2013. (Courtesy: State Dept)
Related:
EU Presidents urge Sudan to revoke death sentence (10 June 2014)
Human rights appeal by condemned Sudanese mother (2 June 2014)
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