The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Sudan - the case of Meriam Yahia Ibrahim.

The resolution was tabled by the EPP, S&D, ECR, ALDE, GUE/NGL, and Greens/ALE groups.

It condemned the unjustified detention of Meriam Ibrahim, the daughter of an Ethiopian Christian mother and a Sudanese Muslim father, who was raised as a Christian, accused of adultery and apostasyafter her marriage to a Christian man and, when eight months pregnant, sentenced to a hundred lashes and to death by hanging. Members called on the Government of Sudan to repeal all legislation that discriminated on grounds of gender or religion and to protect the religious identity of minority groups, as it is required to do under its international obligations and its own constitution.

Members called on the EU to play a leadership role in pushing for a strong resolution on Sudan at the next Human Rights Council session in September 2014 which would address the serious and widespread violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in the country.

Recalling that Meriam Ibrahim gave birth to a baby girl while chained and physically detained, Parliament called on the Sudanese authorities to ensure that all pregnant women and labouring women in detention receive appropriate and safe maternal and newborn health care. It strongly condemned all forms of violence and intimidation that impaired the right to have a religion of one’s choice, and highlighted the fact that adultery and apostasy were acts that should not be considered to be crimes at all. It reiterated its strong attachment to the strict separation between religion or belief, on the one hand, and the state, on the other, which implied the rejection of any religious interference in the functioning of government.

Parliament went on to note with concern that impunity for serious human rights violations remained a widespread and serious problem in Sudan, as in the case of the Darfur conflict, where the authorities had not prosecuted the vast majority of serious crimes committed, including crimes of sexual violence. The Sudanese government must;

• prosecute those responsible for human rights abuses, including killings, torture and ill-treatment of detainees, and rape and other sexual violence;
• undertake, with the support of the international community, urgent legal reform in order to protect fundamental human rights and freedoms, ensure the protection of every individual’s human rights and address, in particular, discrimination against women, minorities and disadvantaged groups.