Campaign
triggered after woman imprisoned for marrying a Christian was sentenced to 100
lashes and hanging for apostasy
The Guardian, Harriet Sherwood, Monday 23 June 2014
A Christian woman on death row in a Sudanese prison has been released on the orders of a court in Khartoum following an international outcry over her sentence and treatment.
Meriam Ibrahim, 27, with Martin, her 18-month-old son, holds her newborn baby girl she gave birth to in a Sudan jail. Photograph: Uncredited/AP |
A Christian woman on death row in a Sudanese prison has been released on the orders of a court in Khartoum following an international outcry over her sentence and treatment.
Meriam
Ibrahim, 27, had been sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery and to be hanged for
apostasy after refusing to renounce her faith. Her case triggered an
international campaign, drawing in political and religious leaders, celebrities
and human rights organisations.
Demands for
her release accelerated after Ibrahim gave birth while shackled to the floor of
her prison cell at Omdurman women's prison. Her newborn daughter, Maya, and her
toddler son, Martin, were incarcerated with her.
"I'm
so happy," Ibrahim's husband, Daniel Wani, a US citizen, told the Guardian
by phone from Khartoum on Monday. He said his wife and their two children were
in relatively good condition, and he hoped that the family would soon be able
to start a new life in the US. Elshareef Mohammed, Ibrahim's lawyer, said that
she was "fine and very happy" but had been taken to a safe house amid
fears that the family could be at risk of attack.
The case
against Ibrahim was triggered by allegations made by men claiming to be
relatives, although Ibrahim denied knowing them.
The news of
her release was broken by the Sudanese state news agency, Suna, which said:
"The appeal court ordered the release of [Ibrahim] and the cancellation of
the [earlier] court ruling." Judges had been hearing an appeal against
Ibrahim's convictions for the past two weeks. Her lawyers argued that the case
was based on weak and inconsistent claims and contravened Sudan's interim
constitution.
Jehanne
Henry, of Human Rights Watch, said: "Obviously this is good news and it
shows that the appeals court sought to uphold rights. This is the outcome we
were hoping for because there was a clear legal basis for releasing her."
Ibrahim's conviction and sentences were "such a blatant disregard of
fundamental human rights that it provoked quite an outcry", she said.
"It's quite possible that international pressure had an influence."
Ibrahim was
convicted of apostasy after the court insisted she was a Muslim because her
father was a Muslim, even though Ibrahim said she had been brought up as a
Christian after her father abandoned the family when she was six. Following her
conviction last month, she was given three days to renounce her faith or face a
death sentence.
Then eight
months pregnant, she was told that her death sentence would be deferred for two
years to allow her to nurse her unborn baby.
The leaders
of Britain's three political parties backed a campaign to get Ibrahim released.
David Cameron said he was "absolutely appalled" by her sentence.
"The way she is being treated is barbaric and has no place in today's
world. Religious freedom is an absolute, fundamental human right," the
prime minister said. The US state department said it was "deeply
disturbed" by the case and called on Khartoum to respect the right to
freedom of religion.
Hillary
Clinton, Tony Blair, Jesse Jackson and Justin Welby, the archbishop of
Canterbury, were among high-profile international figures calling for the
sentence to be dropped.
A demand by
Amnesty International for Ibrahim's release won the support of more than 1
million people worldwide. Thousands rallied to a Twitter campaign, #SaveMeriam.
The actor Mia Farrow urged her followers to "bombard" the Sudanese
embassies in London and Washington with demands for Ibrahim's release,
supplying the relevant phone numbers.
Sarah
Jackson of Amnesty said yesterday: "Today's ruling is a small step to
redressing the injustice done to Meriam. However, she should never have been
prosecuted. Meriam was sentenced to death when eight months pregnant for
something which should not be a crime. Furthermore, her abhorrent treatment,
including being shackled, violated international human rights law against
ill-treatment."
Amnesty
urged the Sudanese authorities to repeal provisions that criminalise acts of
apostasy and adultery, and to establish a moratorium on executions as a first
step towards abolishing the death penalty.
The US
government is now likely to come under pressure to allow Ibrahim to settle in
the US by granting asylum or citizenship on the basis of her marriage. Ibrahim
and Wani were married in a Khartoum church in December 2011. Under Sudanese
law, it is forbidden for a Muslim woman to marry a Christian man. However,
Ibrahim claimed in court that she had been brought up as a Christian by her
mother after her Muslim father left the family. She had attended church
regularly. Wani – who is originally from South Sudan – said that she was more
committed to her faith than he was.
A statement
signed by Father Mussa Timothy Kacho, episcopal vicar for Khartoum, said
Ibrahim had "never been a Muslim in her life". The couple had
business interests in Khartoum including a hair salon, a mini-mart and
agricultural land.
In 2013, a
man who claimed to be Ibrahim's brother alerted the Sudanese authorities to
what he believed was an unlawful union.
In May, the
court declared the marriage invalid, and Ibrahim guilty of adultery. She was
sentenced to a public whipping, and to be hanged for apostasy. Ibrahim was held
in what human rights organisations described as atrocious conditions with
limited access to medical care and legal representation. Wani was permitted
only brief visits to his family. He said his wife and children were being held
in inhumane conditions. Hopes for Ibrahim's release were raised three weeks ago
when a Sudanese foreign ministry official said she would be freed imminently.
The Sudanese government swiftly issued a statement saying Ibrahim could only be
freed on a court order, not as a political decision.
Timeline
August 2013
Ibrahim is arrested
15 May 2014
Ibrahim appears in court charged with apostasy and adultery and is sentenced
100 lashes then to death by hanging
22 May
Ibrahim's legal team files an appeal, saying the verdict contradicts the
country's 2005 constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion as well as
international rights agreements to which Sudan is a signatory
27 May
Ibrahim gives birth to a daughter at the women's prison in Khartoum's twin city
of Omdurman
10 June The
EU is among those to press Sudan to free Ibrahim
23 June Ibrahim is released
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