TWO SOUTH
SUDAN PASTORS RISK DEATH PENALTY
Story by:Albert Bwana
Reverend
Yat Michael and Reverend Peter Yen who had been held in communication by the
Sudanese National Intelligence Service (NISS) were charged with eight offences
under the 1991 Penal Code on 1 March. Two of these offences carry the death
penalty.
Reverend
Yat Michael and Reverend Peter Yen
of the South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church were arrested by the
Sudanese National Intelligence Service (NISS) in Khartoum, Sudan on 21 December
2014 and 11 January 2015 respectively.
They were charged on 1 March in Khartoum with
eight offences under the 1991 Penal Code. They are charged with committing
joint acts in execution of criminal conspiracy; undermining the constitutional
system; waging war against the state; espionage against the country; disclosure
and obtaining information and official documents; promoting hatred amongst or
against sects; disturbance of the public peace;, and insulting religious
creeds.
The
offences of waging war against the state and of undermining the constitutional
system carry the death penalty, while the other six offences carry flogging
sentences. It is believed that the two pastors were arrested and charged due to
their religious convictions.
The
two pastors were held incommunicado by the NISS until 2 March, when they were
transferred to Kober prison and permitted their first family visits.
Reverend
Yat Michael and Reverend Peter Yen went on a hunger strike for two days on 28
and 29 March objecting to their continued detention without trial and to their
lack of access to lawyers.
They are both now being represented pro-bono
by a team of lawyers. They have been to court twice, on 19 May and 31 May.
Their next court appearance is on 15 June.
Amnesty
International considers Reverend Yat Michael and Reverend Peter Yen as
prisoners of conscience, arrested, detained and charged solely because of their
peaceful expression of their religious convictions.
Reverend
Yat Michael, was taken into custody on Sunday, 21 December 2014. He had been
preaching that morning, at the Khartoum North Church of the Sudan Presbyterian
Evangelical Church (SPEC).
During
the sermon, he had condemned the sale of the church land and property and
raised concerns about the life of Christians in Sudan. After the service,
several men who identified themselves as Sudanese government security officers,
demanded that Reverend Yat Michael go with them.
They
took him away without giving any further explanation. The next day, the
security forces went to Reverend Yat’s home and took some of his clothes and
personal belongings.
They
informed his wife that he was being held in relation to an ongoing
investigation but did not reveal any further details about the investigation,
whether the reverend was under arrest and what the charges were.
Reverend
Peter Yen, another South Sudanese pastor who was visiting Khartoum, was
arrested on 11 January after he honoured summons to report to the NISS office.
It appears that his arrest and detention is linked to a letter he sent to the
Religious Affairs Office in Khartoum inquiring about Reverend Yat’s arrest.
The
Penal Code of Sudan was introduced in 1991 and is based upon a narrow
interpretation of Shari’a (Islamic law). It contains legal provisions
which amount to a denial of fundamental human rights including limitations on
the rights and freedoms of non-Muslims.
Sudan’s
legal system allows and promotes the conversion of the Sudanese people from
Christianity and other religions to Islam, but makes proselytizing of Sudanese
Muslims a crime punishable by flogging, and conversion from Islam is considered
apostasy, and is punishable by death.
Suppression
of non-Muslim and Muslim minority groups and violations of freedom of religion
is wide spread in Sudan. Since 1989, a specific interpretation of Islam was
allowed to dominate the country’s laws, institutions and policies.
As a
result, thousands of non-Muslims have been forced to convert to Islam, priests
and church leaders persecuted and thousands of Christians punished according to
Shari’a (Islamic law).
Amnesty
International has documented several cases of individuals being persecuted
owing to their religious affiliation in Sudan as well as several cases of
people sentenced to flogging in Sudan. In August 2013, Meriam Yahya Ibrahim was
convicted and sentenced to death on charges of adultery and apostasy.
She
was detained in prison along with her son and gave birth to her daughter in
Omdurman prison while in shackles. She was released on 23 June 2014 when her
sentence was reversed by an appeals court and due to international outcry.
Punishment
by flogging violates the absolute prohibition against torture and other
ill-treatment in international human rights law. Amnesty International
considers the death penalty to be the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading
punishment and a violation of the right to life and opposes its use in all
cases and without exception, regardless of the nature of the crime.
ENDS………