(15 May 2014) Al-Haj Yousef Criminal Court in Khartoum Bahri today confirmed the sentence of 100 lashings and the death penalty by hanging against 27-year old Meriam Yahia Ibrahim, a Christian woman convicted for adultery and apostasy on 11 May. The penalties were confirmed after Ms. Ibrahim, who is in her ninth month of pregnancy, confirmed her Christian faith to the Court. She had been given three days to recant her faith or face the death penalty.

The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACPJS) condemns in the strongest terms the application of the death penalty in Sudan and all laws that prescribe torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments. Ms. Ibrahim has been convicted solely on the basis of her religious beliefs, contrary to equality and non-discrimination guarantees in Sudan’s own Constitution and commitments made by the Government of Sudan under regional and international law.

Ms. Ibrahim’s conviction for apostasy rested on the court testimony of family members who lodged a criminal complaint in September 2013, alleging she had converted from Islam to Christianity, a crime provided under Islamic law (Sharia) provisions of the 1991 Sudanese Penal Code. She was also convicted of adultery for cohabiting and bearing a child with her Christian husband. The court had previously annulled her church marriage on the basis of testimonies provided by her family members that she is a Muslim.

No guidance on the timeline for implementation of the penalties was provided. The defense team announced its intention to submit the case to the Appeal Court. It is expected that Ms. Ibrahim, who is in her ninth month of pregnancy and has been detained with her infant child since 11 May, will be transferred to Omdurman Women’s Prison.

Under the 1991 Sudanese Criminal Procedure Code, the implementation of the death penalty is postponed in respect of pregnant and breastfeeding women, providing for two years of breastfeeding after the birth. The implementation of lashing penalties is subject to the health condition of the defendant.

ACJPS has also learned that on 8 May 2014, Al Gadarif Criminal Court dropped charges against another woman accused of apostasy after she recanted her Christian faith and converted to Islam to avoid the death penalty. A criminal complaint had been lodged against her by a police officer at the National Identity office in Al Gadarif town after she applied for a national identity card. On application, she was asked to declare her own faith and that of her father. The criminal complaint was filed when she declared that she was a Christian, married with eight children to a Christian man, and that her father was a Muslim.

ACJPS reiterates its calls on the Government of Sudan to revise all legislation that has the purpose or effect of discriminating against religious and ethnic minorities, women and other individuals on account of their identity and issue an immediate moratorium on all executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty and all forms of corporal punishment.

Contact: Katherine Perks, ACJPS Programme Director, Kampala, on info@acjps.org or +256 775072136