The World Council of Churches (WCC) is urging President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan to “prevent the implementation of an unjust and unconscionable sentence meted on a Sudanese woman because of her faith."
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is urging President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan to “prevent the implementation of an unjust and unconscionable sentence meted on a Sudanese woman because of her faith."
Meriam Yahya Ibrahim was sentenced to death and 100 lashes for converting from Islam to Christianity, and for committing adultery because she is married to a Christian man. This is according to Islamic Sharia law.
Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of WCC, has expressed shock over the decision to hang Meriam.
“Whether Mrs. Meriam Yahya Ibrahim was born of Muslim parents or Christian parents, such a sentence runs counter to the letter and spirit of the Sudanese Constitution,” Tveit said. “According to the Sudanese constitution…all citizens have the ‘right to the freedom of religious creed and worship’.”
Ibrahim, a 27-year-old Sudanese woman, was charged for marrying a Christian man, Daniel Wani, a US citizen. She is pregnant. Tveit said that condemning Meriam violates a fundamental principle of international human rights law embodied in Sudan’s constitution.
At the same time, the Archbishop and Bishop of Khartoum of the Internal Province of Episcopal Church of Sudan, Rev. Ezekiel Kondo, has condemned the sentencing of Meriam and has asked the ministry of justice to review her case and release her immediately.
‘She is free to believe in a religion of her choice…The last judgment on the faith should be left to God alone,” he said in a statement. “The spirit of dialogue, coexistence and love that the president of the republic called upon should be upheld.”
Meriam was born from a Christian mother (Ethiopian Orthodox) and a Muslim father. Her father left them when she was age 6, and she was raised by her mother as a Christian. Meriam is married to a Sudanese/American Christian, Daniel Wani.
She was sentenced to death for ‘converting to Christianity’ simply because her father was a Muslim. Yet, the fact is, Meriam has been a Christian since she was young, and was brought up by her mother who was a Christian.
According to media reports, Meriam, her husband and their son were all arrested initially, but then, the husband was released, while Meriam remained in custody. Their marriage has been revoked.
For now, Meriam and her son are in prison until she gives birth, and then she will be executed.
According to Rev. Kondo, there is another court case going on right now in Kalakla, Khartoum, of a young man who has been accused of converting from Islam to Christianity, according to the Almeghar Newspaper of 21st May 2014. This young man may face the same fate as Meriam did.
“Episcopal Church of Sudan also requests the authorities in Kalakla to free the young man,” he said.
BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS
