Pregnant Woman in Sudan Could Be Executed for ‘Apostasy,’ Whipped for ‘Adultery’

Christian accused of converting from Islam because her father was Muslim.

Sudan flag (The World Factbook)

Sudan flag (The World Factbook)

JUBA, South Sudan (Morning Star News) – A pregnant woman in Khartoum, Sudan raised as a Christian faces the death penalty for “leaving Islam” because her father was Muslim, sources said.

Meriam Yahia Ibrahim, 27, and her Christian husband also have a toddler son. As marriage to a Christian man is prohibited for a Muslim woman in Sudan, Ibrahim also could be given 100 lashes for “adultery,” the sources said. If convicted of “apostasy” and “adultery,” the whipping and execution would be administered soon after giving birth to her second child, due next month, according to a rights worker for Justice Center Sudan in Khartoum.

“We are fighting for Meriam’s life, freedom, and fair treatment – according to the law, if she had been a Muslim she should be killed soon after she gives birth to her child,” said the rights worker, whose identity was withheld for security reasons.

Married to a South Sudanese Christian who obtained U.S. citizenship several years ago, Ibrahim’s nightmare has included denial of bail, insufficient medical care for both her and her unborn child, beatings in prison and a U.S. Embassy that has offered little help, sources said.

“Meriam needs treatment every month to keep the unborn baby still in the mother’s womb, but no medical help has been allowed,” her husband, Daniel Wani, reported to Justice Center Sudan. “They are denying my wife her rights to fair treatment and my rights to visit and see my son.”

Their 20-month-old son, Martin Wani, is staying in prison with his mother, as Sudanese authorities have prohibited the boy’s father from caring for him because he is a Christian. Ibrahim has been incarcerated since February.

Justice Center Sudan is fighting the court’s charges of apostasy and adultery based constitutional rights to equality and freedom of religion. The center says constitutional rights should outweigh sharia (Islamic law). The Sudanese constitution stipulates Islamic law as a source of legislation, however, and since the secession of South Sudan in July 2011, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has vowed to make Sudan a more strictly Islamic country.

Rights workers are trying to pressure the government to give Ibrahim, a medical doctor who graduated from Khartoum University, fair treatment in prison and allow the baby to be with his father.

Accusing Wani of converting a Muslim woman to another religion and marrying her – although Sudanese law does not explicitly ban proselytism – authorities have taken Wani’s passport and forbidden him to travel.

Sudan’s notorious Public Order Court in El Haj Yousif in Khartoum North charged Ibrahim with apostasy and adultery on March 4, sources told Morning Star News. No one has been executed for apostasy in Sudan since the Sudan Criminal Code of 1991 made it punishable by the death penalty.

The couple also faces cancellation of their marriage, rights workers said.

“According  to Islamic laws, if a Muslim woman gets married to a non-Muslim man, then their marriage is not acknowledged legally,” one rights worker said. “She is then committing adultery, and her children are not recognized by law as children of legal marriage. That is why she is facing the charges.”

Khartoum state’s “public order” laws are based largely on strict Islamic law and give Public Order Police and judges wide latitude in arresting and sentencing suspects.

Ibrahim was born in a small town in western Sudan to an Ethiopian Orthodox mother and a Muslim Sudanese father. Her father disappeared from her life when she was 6 years old, and her Ethiopian Orthodox mother raised her in the Christian faith, sources said.

When life became hard for her and her mother, they decided to move to Khartoum in search of better school opportunities for Ibrahim and employment for her mother, sources said. Finding refuge in a neighborhood in Khartoum, they connected with a small church, and their lives moved on, according to Justice Center Sudan.

Ibrahim progressed in school and graduated from the prestigious School of Medicine at Khartoum University. Her mother died in 2011, leaving Ibrahim with a small but supportive community. She and Wani met at her church when he was visiting Khartoum from the United States; they soon fell in love and were married in a small church ceremony in Khartoum in 2012, Wani said.

Last year someone who said he was a relative of Ibrahim opened a case against them in Halat Kuku Court of Khartoum North for alleged “adultery” under article 146 of the Sudan Criminal Code because of her marriage to a Christian, rights workers said. Wani was accused of proselytizing a Muslim, and eventually authorities added the apostasy charge to Ibrahim.

Three witnesses from western Sudan came to Khartoum in March of this year to testify of Ibrahim’s lifelong Christian faith, they said.

“I am a Christian,” Ibrahim told the court in Khartoum on March 4, having provided her marriage certificate showing that she was a Christian and that the wedding ceremony was conducted in a Christian chapel in Khartoum in 2012.

Though no one has been executed for apostasy in Sudan since the 1991 law took effect, courts have forced people accused of leaving Islam to renounce their faiths.

While in jail Ibrahim  has been abused physically and emotionally, according to her husband. Muslim scholars have been visiting her, telling her to “turn back” to the religion of her father, but she has refused, he said.

One of the prison guards, Kawther Hassen, has mistreated Ibrahim and not allowed visitations or medical help. Her husband told Morning Star News that that a Muslim woman in the jail has incited other Muslims to make life difficult for Ibrahim.

“She is psychologically tired,” Wani said. “My wife was never a Muslim. As an American citizen, I ask the people and government of the USA to help me.”

The couple’s toddler boy is a U.S. citizen by virtue of his father’s U.S. citizenship, but Wani said U.S. Embassy officials in Khartoum have told him he must prove he is the father with a DNA test before they would try to help.

“I will have to take a DNA sample in Khartoum, then send it to the USA for testing,” Wani said. “I have provided wedding documents and the baby’s birth certificate, and doors were closed on his face.”

Wani told Morning Star News that when he called the U.S. Embassy on April 9, a representative in Khartoum told him they did not care about the case.

“I have tried to apply for papers to travel to the USA with my wife and child, but the American Embassy in Sudan did not help me,” Wani said. “My son is an American citizen living in a difficult situation in prison.”

U.S. Embassy personnel declined to speak about the matter to Morning Star News.

At a hearing for Ibrahim on April 18, the court requested more witnesses to testify that she never practiced Islam, according to attorneys. Wani said those wishing to help can contact Justice Center Sudan at [email protected].

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Comments

  1. The United States Government needs to apply alot More Pressure , be it with Mediation involving Human Rights or Military Involvement if need be , when dealing with these religious fanaticals and self righteous Bullies ! If we as a civilized society , allow this pregnant mother to be brutality treated and put in prison and have her life and that of her unborn son’s and 2 year old son’s threatened, and act too slow , we are just as responsible for her welfare and any tragic outcome , if these fanatics get their way ! A Strong message Must be sent Immediately to address this Important Human Rights Issue.ASAP ! Signed : Concerned Canadian Mother of 8

  2. Ray O'Meara says

    The main reason the US embassy is not helping is because this family is Christian. The present American government is not interested in promoting justice for Christians – in America or elsewhere. Now, if this family was Muslim …….

  3. Violah s manonga says

    God have mercy on those treating a human being like that,Wani & your family keep the faith God almighty will see you through.Revelation 2:9 says he (God) sees your affliction& tribulation just be faithful even it means death be faithfull for this world is passing by& all of us we are going to die.Rejoice when they destroy the flesh but the wont touch the spirit.God be with you& will pray with you for your faith to be strong

  4. Nasser Amin says

    Mr. President Omar al-Bashir, president of Sudan must be interfere personally to release Wani & her Family , otherwise He him self Will be submitted to the International Justice for his Execution
    what happen in Sudan is a ridiculous

  5. Her reward is in heaven blessed are the persecuted in the name of Jesus we should pray that she understands that and pray that she rejoice in and find peace on her journey pray that someone there will see how much she believes even until death maybe someone else will choose to except Jesus Christ into there heart .

  6. Robert Lloyd says

    http://www.ayotte.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1429 16May 14
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) today urged Secretary of State John Kerry to provide political asylum to Meriam Ibrahim, a Sudanese Christian woman and wife of an American citizen who has been sentenced to death by the Sudanese government for her religious beliefs.
    I urge all to call/email your representatives/Senators and ask for their support and involvement. And pray: Imagine if it were you or your spouse and child!

    PS: The U.S. Government gave a total of $298,122,752 to Sudan in 2012
    http://us-foreign-aid.findthebest.com/q/166/1590/How-much-money-does-the-U-S-give-to-Sudan

  7. Joan Dileo says

    Please help this Wani and her family. Recall the ambassator to the Embassy.

  8. Rachel buck says

    This is true,this woman,may be persecuted,so was Jesus,while on earth. May many unbelievers,come to know Jesus as their savior…no weapon formed against me shall prosper…how sad,and scary,for this family…if only Muslims,would open their eyes,see the true god,…we must pray,as a nation,for help,in this situations,and justice,for,other,persecuted men,and woman

  9. Allah did not send anybody to kill for His sake. Those behind this type of law should know they are representing a sect under the earth and not God or Allah who gives free choice to those who want to follow Him.
    Let Meriam not be afraid, nothing that the did not allow will happen to her. She is God’s project. Let us join her in prayer and the Almighty will vindicate her.
    Lord Jesus, you love everyone even the prosecutor of this young women, for you created all things and everyone for you glory; and you are every where, intervene for this woman and many more in the world. You’re all over and know everything. The universe is yous and the fulness there of !!! Intervene Lord!!!!!!!!!!! Do, and take Glory. Be thou exalted in this matter for your sake and not for Meriam or the husband or even us!! Do it for your name sake. Honour your name Lord, hnour your name once and for all by the Blood you shed on Calvary, by the power of resurrection Amen

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