[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 77 (Wednesday, May 21, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3241-S3242]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 453--CONDEMNING THE DEATH SENTENCE AGAINST MERIAM 
  YAHIA IBRAHIM ISHAG, A SUDANESE CHRISTIAN WOMAN ACCUSED OF APOSTASY

  Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. Coons, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Inhofe, Mrs. 
Fischer, Mr. Cruz, Mr. McCain, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Moran, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. 
Boozman, Ms. Ayotte, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Johnson of Wisconsin, 
Mr. Isakson, Mr. Burr, Ms. Mikulski, and Mr. Coburn) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                              S. Res. 453

       Whereas, on May 15, 2014, a Sudanese court affirmed a 
     sentence of death by hanging for 27-year old Meriam Yahia 
     Ibrahim Ishag, a Christian woman accused of apostasy for 
     refusing to recant her Christian faith, and ordered her to 
     receive 100 lashes for adultery because under Sudan's 
     Shari'ah law such inter-religious marriages are illegal;
       Whereas Ibrahim is eight months pregnant and being held in 
     the Omdurman Federal Women's Prison with her 20-month old 
     son;
       Whereas the Department of State has designated Sudan as a 
     ``Country of Particular Concern'' under the International 
     Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-292) based on 
     the government's systematic, ongoing, and egregious 
     violations of religious freedom since 1999;
       Whereas the Sudanese 1991 Criminal Code allows for death 
     sentences for apostasy, stoning for adultery, cross-
     amputations for theft, prison sentences for blasphemy, and 
     floggings for undefined acts of ``indecency'';
       Whereas, according to the United States Commission on 
     International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), the Government of 
     Sudan, led by President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, continues to 
     engage in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of 
     religious freedom or belief, imposes a restrictive 
     interpretation of Shari'ah law on Muslims and non-Muslims 
     alike and, along with other National Congress Party leaders, 
     President al-Bashir has stated that Sudan's new constitution, 
     when drafted, will be based on its interpretation of 
     Shari'ah;
       Whereas, according to USCIRF, since South Sudan's 
     independence from Sudan in 2011, the number and severity of 
     harsh Shari'ah-based judicial decisions in Sudan has 
     increased, including sentences of amputation for theft and 
     sentences of stoning for adultery;
       Whereas the United States Government has designated Sudan 
     as a State Sponsor of Terrorism since August 12, 1993, for 
     repeatedly providing support for acts of international 
     terrorism;
       Whereas the Sudanese 2005 Interim Constitution states that 
     ``[t]he State shall respect the religious rights to (a) 
     worship or assemble in connection with any religion or 
     belief'';
       Whereas the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
     Rights, which the Government of Sudan has acceded, provides 
     that ``everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, 
     conscience. and religion. This right shall include freedom to 
     have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and 
     freedom, either individually or in community with others, and 
     in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in 
     worship, observance, practice, and teaching.''.
       Whereas the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & 
     Public Life found that, as of 2011, 10 percent of the 198 
     countries surveyed had apostasy laws which can, and have 
     been, used to punish both Muslims and non-Muslims in 
     countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Morocco, and Sudan; 
     and
       Whereas people have the right to practice their faith 
     without fear of death or persecution: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) condemns the charge of apostasy and death sentence of 
     Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag and calls for immediate and 
     unconditional release of her and her son;

[[Page S3242]]

       (2) encourages efforts by the United States Government to 
     support religious freedom within Sudan, including by 
     requiring, before normalizing relations or lifting sanctions 
     under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public 
     Law 105-292) and the International Emergency Economic Powers 
     Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), that the Government of Sudan 
     abide by international standards of freedom of religion or 
     belief;
       (3) urges the Government of Sudan to ensure that, when 
     drafting the country's new constitution, the process is 
     transparent and inclusive of civil society leaders and 
     representatives of all major political parties, to ensure 
     that the new constitution includes protections for freedom of 
     religion or belief, respect for international human rights 
     commitments, and recognition of Sudan as a multireligious, 
     multiethnic, and multicultural nation;
       (4) recognizes that every individual regardless of religion 
     should have the opportunity to practice his or her religion 
     without fear of discrimination;
       (5) reaffirms the commitment of the United States 
     Government to end religious discrimination and to pursue 
     policies that guarantee the basic human rights of all 
     individuals worldwide; and
       (6) encourages the Department of State and the United 
     States Agency for International Development to continue their 
     support for initiatives worldwide that support religious 
     freedom.

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