International Christian Concern 2020 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, #941 Washington, DC 20006 301-585-5915 ♦ icc@persecution.org
PETITION CALLING FOR THE IMMEDIATE AND UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF MAERIAM YAHIA IBRAHIM Minister of Justice Mohamed Bushara Dousa Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Sudan 2210 Massachusetts Ave NW Washington, DC 20008
June 18, 2014 Dear Minister Dousa, It is with great concern that we petition the government of Sudan for the immediate and unconditional release of Meriam Yahia Ibrahim, a Christian mother of two and wife to an American citizen, who was sentenced to 100 lashes and death on charges of adultery and apostasy on May 15 by the El Haj Yousif Public Order Court in Khartoum. Ibrahim was arrested by Sudan’s Public Order Police on February 17 and remains arbitrarily detained, along with her children, in the Omdurman Federal Women’s Prison, in violation of their constitutional and human rights, for practicing her Christian faith and for her marriage to Danniel Wani, a professed Christian. On March 4, 15 days following her initial arrest and detention, the El Haj Yousif Public Order Court charged Ibrahim with adultery and apostasy. On May 11, that same court convicted Ibrahim of both charges, allocating her three days to publicly recant her Christian faith and profess Islam in its place, or face sentencing. On May 15, Judge Abbas al-Khaleefa of the El Haj Yousif Public Order Court in Khartoum sentenced Ibrahim to 100 lashes, to be administered following the birth of her second child, and to death by hanging, to be administered two years following that birth, per Articles 126, 145 and 146 of Sudan’s 1991 Public Order Criminal Code. The sentencing was handed down only after a representative of the Sudan Fatwa Council was allowed time to publicly pressure Ibrahim to recant her Christian faith. In response to the Cleric’s prodding, Ibrahim responded, “I am a Christian, and I will remain a Christian.” After an appeal for his admittance was denied by Judge al-Khaleefa, Sudanese police barred Wani, who is medically confined to a wheelchair, from entering the El Haj Yousif courtroom to witness his wife’s sentencing. In handing down the sentencing Judge al-Khaleefa provided Ibrahim’s legal defense 15 days to appeal the decision. Ibrahim’s case was filed with the Khartoum Court of Appeals on May 22 and is actively being heard. Ibrahim, born to a Muslim father who abandoned her and her mother at age six, was raised an Orthodox Christian in Western Sudan. A graduate of Khartoum University, where she studied to become a medical doctor, Ibrahim is not only a medical professional, but a loving mother and faithful wife. According to her legal defense, Ibrahim has been physically abused while imprisoned, denied medical treatment, pressured to profess Islam and forced to birth her second child while shackled to the floor of the prison’s hospital wing. No individual should ever be forced to suffer arrest and arbitrary detention for the expression of his or her faith. Nor should any individual ever be physically abused, denied medical treatment, subjected to state-sponsored pressure to recant their expressed faith or be sentenced to death for the expression of that faith. Your excellency, the signers of this petition urge the government of Sudan, in the strongest possible terms, to immediately and unconditionally release Ibrahim and her children and to provide them proper medical care. We eagerly anticipate your timely response. Sincerely, International Christian Concern (and attached) CC: Secretary of State John Kerry Senator Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Senator Robert Corker, Ranking Republican Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Congressman Ed Royce, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Congressman Eliot Engel, Ranking Democratic Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs