Media Misses Role of ‘Honor’ in Conviction of Sudanese Woman

on May 24, 2014

The death sentence for a pregnant Christian woman in Sudan for apostasy and her husband’s pleas for help from the State Department are getting global attention, but an important fact is often missed: She is a victim of the concept of “honor.” Her prosecution was triggered by her own brother.

The Sudanese regime sentenced Meriam Ibrahim Ishag to death for apostasy in accordance with Islamist doctrine, but her Muslim brother filed the initial complaint because of the concept of “honor.” The brother claimed she disappeared for years and when she was found, she had married a Christian and converted to the faith from Islam, making her an apostate.

The truth is that she was never actually a Muslim. Her father was, but he left the family when she was six years old and she was raised by her Christian mother. However, her brother and the Sudanese regime view her as a Muslim by birth because of her father’s faith.

Meriam was given a chance to renounce her faith and she refused. The Sudanese government convicted her of adultery and apostasy, the latter carrying the penalty of death by hanging and the former carrying the penalty of 100 lashes. She was convicted of adultery because the government doesn’t recognize Muslim-Christian marriages. That makes her relationship with her husband illegal because the government considers her to be a Muslim.

Meriam’s husband, Daniel Wani, is a naturalized American citizen. It is the job of the U.S. State Department and its embassies and consulates to protect and serve American citizens abroad. Yet, Wani is openly complaining that the U.S. government is not helping him free his wife and their son who is less than two years old and is with her in prison.

Until Monday, Wani was refused access to his wife and son because the Sudanese government does not consider the couple to be married.

“I was considered innocent and the marriage revoked — the revoking of this marriage means that my son is no longer my son and the one coming is not my son too, so this innocence means nothing and I will appeal for myself and I will appeal for my wife,” he explained.

“He originally was not allowed to see her until this week,” said Tina Ramirez, executive director of Hardwired, a U.S.-based advocacy group against religious persecution. “Once he was able to, she was shackled and her legs were swollen.”

Shockingly, the State Department would not even confirm that Wani and his son are American citizens. Wani says that the U.S. embassy in Khartoum is requiring DNA proof that he is the father, even though he’s already provided wedding documents and the son’s birth certificate.

As explained in the film Honor Diaries, horrific consequences face Muslim women in Muslim-majority societies (and even in the West) who are seen as having shamed her family or community. The concept of “honor” is intertwined with Islamist doctrine, as this “shame” often consists of violating sharia as interpreted by Islamic extremists.

Sudan is a country where the concept of “honor” is prevalent, and it also has sharia-based governance — a toxic combination. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, nearly 90% of Sudanese females are victims of female genital mutilation, an act of honor violence. Shockingly, 45% of Sudanese women support the practice.

According to the Honor Diaries fact sheet on Sudan, husbands can restrict their wives from going to work, women cannot travel without a guardian or the husband’s permission and marital rape is legal, among other forms of discrimination based in “honor” and Islamist doctrine. It is this culture and ideology that led Meriam’s brother to report her.

Luckily, the case is garnering international attention. A Google news search on the topic yields over 23,000 results. Elected officials like Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and human rights groups like Amnesty International are speaking out.

International Christian Concern has started a campaign that includes a petition to the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C., a Twitter campaign with the hashtag #ForMeriam, calls to Sudanese embassies and sending them letters.

Even groups with pro-Islamist histories like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) are acting. CAIR is demanding Meriam’s release and MPAC has rebuked Sudan’s ban on apostasy, saying it “calls upon Muslim-majority countries to implement a moratorium on so-called Hudud or ‘Penal Code’ cases.”

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation OIC), however, has beensilent about the case. The OIC is a bloc of 56 Muslim countries that often takes up the Islamist cause. CNS News says at least 21 member states have laws banning apostasy, including Sudan.

The OIC’s International Islamic Fiqh Academy endorsed anti-apostasy legislation five years ago, ruling that:

“Avowed apostasy…deserves to be punished…which is only to be meted out by the judiciary. This is to ward off the danger posed by such a person and to protect society and keep it safe. This ruling does by no means contradict religious freedom that is ensured by Islam for whosoever respects religious sensitivities and the society’s values and general order.”

Meriam’s story is one of many in Sudan. For example, the latest report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recalls the story of a pregnant Ethiopian teenager who was raped by three Sudanese men. She was convicted of “indecent acts” and given a one-month suspended jail sentence and a $900 fine. The rapists were sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery. The one who videotaped the rape got 40 lashes.

It is puzzling why the U.S. government is not forcefully coming to Meriam’s aid. The Obama Administration came close to de-listing Sudan as a State Sponsor of Terrorism in 2011 and has praised the regime’s incomplete cooperation in counter-terrorism. Perhaps it is concerned that decisive action would sever this cooperation.

The Sudanese government is still listed by the U.S. State Department as a State Sponsor of Terrorism and a Country of Particular Concern for violations of religious freedom. It is not a regime that deserves soft treatment, especially when it persecutes an American citizen and his family.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published at The Clarion Project. It is cross-posted with permission.

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