CATHOLIC CHURCH - ARCHDIOCESE OF KHARTOUM
The Fate of Mrs. Mariam Yahya Ibrahim Ishag
A Sudanese Christian woman sentenced to death for alleged ''Apostasy''
Khartoum, Saturday 1fh June 2014
STATEMENT
This statement is to provide official information about the above mentioned woman whose stunning death sentence, on 1fh May 2014, has made shockwaves all over the country and the world. In the midst of international attention, too many media houses have reported about the case; giving conflicting statements some of which may not be accurate. This statement complements the position paper that was issued by the Sudan Council of Churches on the 21 May, 2014.
Some particulars about the couple:
Some particulars about the couple:
Full name: Mariam Yahya Ibrahim Ishag; born in Ghedaref, on 3rd November 1987. Father's name: Yahya Ibrahim Ishag - a Sudanese Muslim from Darfur (Western Sudan). Mother's name: Zahra Tesfai - an Ethiopian from Orthodox Church; who died in 201l. Marital Status: Married to Mr. Daniel Bicensio Wani, an American citizen (from Manchester - New Hampshire) of South Sudan Origin. He migrated to the United States in 1998. Daniel B. Wani is a Catholic born in Khartoum on 9th April 1970. He was Baptized and confirmed in Sts. Peter and Paul Parish, Catholic Church. He married Miss. Mariam in the Catholic Church (Holy Family Chapel which is under St. Matthew Cathedral)on 19th December 2011. They have a 20-month-old son called Martin and a daughter born in prison on 28th May 2014.
Background of the problem:
Background of the problem:
Mariam and her only brother Hassan Yahya Ibrahim Ishag were probably born out of wedlock. Mariam's father Yahya Ibrahim Ishag abandoned Mrs. Zahra while Mariam was only 5 years old. Mariam never saw her father ever since. She grew up under the care of her Orthodox Christian mother. She was admitted into the Catholic Church shortly before she could marry Mr. Daniel Wani in 2011. Mrs, Mariam, though her father was a Muslim, was brought up in the faith of her mother Zahra as an Orthodox Christian. Never in her life did she embrace the Islamic Religion nor renounce it. She has never been a Muslim in her life.
It is worth mentioning that Daniel and Mariam own some business enterprises in Ghedaref: a barbar shop, a mini-supermarket and an agricultural project. Mariam and Daniel were both arrested on September 15th 2013. The whole problem was raised by a group of men who claim to be Mariam's relatives (while in fact she has never seen them before). The men claim that according to Sharia law (cf. art. 146 of Sudan Criminal Ace 1991), a Christian cannot marry a Muslim woman validly. As a consequence, the couple was first accused of adultery; the charge which was later dropped by Haj Yousif court.
An appeal overturned the ruling and ordered the court to review the case. It was during the second trial that another more serious charge was brought against Mariam; that of "apostasy" because she has allegedly, renounced the Islamic religion. (cf. art. 126 of Sudan Criminal Act 1991). Accordingly, Mrs. Mariam whose father was a Muslim should never have become a Christian. The case dragged on for six months before it finally got an international attention on 11th May 2014 when the court sentenced Mariam to death by hanging. She was given three days by the court to re-consider her decision and to return to the Islamic faith but Mrs. Mariam told the court that since her childhood she has only known the Christian religion.
Attempts made to help the couple
It is worth mentioning that Daniel and Mariam own some business enterprises in Ghedaref: a barbar shop, a mini-supermarket and an agricultural project. Mariam and Daniel were both arrested on September 15th 2013. The whole problem was raised by a group of men who claim to be Mariam's relatives (while in fact she has never seen them before). The men claim that according to Sharia law (cf. art. 146 of Sudan Criminal Ace 1991), a Christian cannot marry a Muslim woman validly. As a consequence, the couple was first accused of adultery; the charge which was later dropped by Haj Yousif court.
An appeal overturned the ruling and ordered the court to review the case. It was during the second trial that another more serious charge was brought against Mariam; that of "apostasy" because she has allegedly, renounced the Islamic religion. (cf. art. 126 of Sudan Criminal Act 1991). Accordingly, Mrs. Mariam whose father was a Muslim should never have become a Christian. The case dragged on for six months before it finally got an international attention on 11th May 2014 when the court sentenced Mariam to death by hanging. She was given three days by the court to re-consider her decision and to return to the Islamic faith but Mrs. Mariam told the court that since her childhood she has only known the Christian religion.
Attempts made to help the couple
There was no much attention given to the case in the beginning since it was to do with adultery. Some of the institutions in Khartoum which Daniel approached for help gave little attention to the case. Mr. Daniel then hired a lawyer to represent them but she was later forced to abandon the case amidst mounting pressure from the accusers. A group of lawyers belonging to "Justice Center for Advocacy", represented by its director, Mohamed Mustafa EI Nour, have now volunteered to go on with the process.
Present status of the case
Present status of the case
Mrs. Mariam is still in Omdurman prison, practically on death row, breast feeding her child in chains. Her case is currently in the court of appeal. No one knows when the appeal court will decide on it. According to the concerned authorities, Mrs. Mariam can only be released on condition that she renounces Christianity and gets divorced from the husband. The only way to save their marriage, supposing that Mariam abandons her Christian faith, is for the husband "Daniel" to embrace Islam and be remarried according to Islamic religion.
There are many people trying to persuade Mariam to renounce Christianity in order to be freed but she is refusing. Some people are pleading with her husband to convince her to abandon Christian faith in order to save her life but to no avail. Given the freedom of religion guaranteed by Sudan's current interim constitution (2005 art, 38), which reads: "Every person shall have the right to the freedom of religious creed and worship/ and to declare his/her religion or creed and manifest the same/ by way of worship/ education practice or performance of rites or ceremonies/ subject to requirements of law and public order; no person shall be coerced to adopt such faith that he/she does not believe in nor to practice rites or services to which he/she does not voluntarily consent.
The Catholic Church
There are many people trying to persuade Mariam to renounce Christianity in order to be freed but she is refusing. Some people are pleading with her husband to convince her to abandon Christian faith in order to save her life but to no avail. Given the freedom of religion guaranteed by Sudan's current interim constitution (2005 art, 38), which reads: "Every person shall have the right to the freedom of religious creed and worship/ and to declare his/her religion or creed and manifest the same/ by way of worship/ education practice or performance of rites or ceremonies/ subject to requirements of law and public order; no person shall be coerced to adopt such faith that he/she does not believe in nor to practice rites or services to which he/she does not voluntarily consent.
The Catholic Church
Archdiocese of Khartoum expresses deep regret (disappointment) over the way the case is being handled in the court in disregard to Mariam's moral and religious belief. The fact of the matter is that Mariam did not abandon the Islamic faith but rather she, in the first place, did not follow the Islamic religion since her childhood.
Therefore, in light of the facts that we have provided above, and to honour Mariam's steadfast position to maintain her Christian faith, we are pleading with the Judiciary and other concerned authorities to review the case against Mrs. Mariam and to bring it to a reasonable end.
Therefore, in light of the facts that we have provided above, and to honour Mariam's steadfast position to maintain her Christian faith, we are pleading with the Judiciary and other concerned authorities to review the case against Mrs. Mariam and to bring it to a reasonable end.
Fr. Mussa Timothy Kacho
Episcopal Vicar for the Pastoral Region of Khartoum