Sign the Petition

If you have any sense of fairness, please sign this petition and spread the word.  The petition can't do anything except keep this situation in the news.  Meriam was a Sudanese Muslim who married an American Christian.  She converted.  On a visit to her parents in the Sudan, Meriam was arrested, along with her 20 month old son.  She is to be executed for changing her faith.  She was pregnant and recently gave birth.  Please keep this situation in the news, until Meriam is freed.

Over 220,000 people signed a petition on CitizenGO in an effort to free Meriam Yehya Ibrahim.

[The 27 year old Sudanese Christian -- who was sentenced to death by hanging for her faith.]

As of this moment, I wish I had better news to report, but thankfully and also sadly (outrageously) her situation has changed. 

This week Meriam gave birth to a baby girl. But disturbing news quickly followed. According to Meriam's husband, Sudanese prison officials left her legs shackled as she was giving birth.
The Sudenese government has announced that they still plan on executing Meriam, but they will wait up to two years so the baby will receive the proper nutrition.

The government does not plan to allow the child's father (Meriam's husband) to see her much. The child will be imprisoned with Meriam, and Meriam's 20 month old son.
At this very moment, Meriam is reportedly being shackled to a "disease ridden floor.” They are being treated less than human. Why? Because of their faith.

If Meriam will deny her faith in Christ and become a Muslim, they will let her go. If she doesn't -- she dies. Meriam is refusing.

We must keep the pressure on the Sudanese government… We must keep this story in the headlines. It is extremely important that we do not forget Meriam. What will help free her (them) is public outrage.

If you have not already, please sign the Personhood USA petition for Meriam:
http://www.citizengo.org/en/7415-save-meriam

If you have signed, please help keep Meriam relevant in the headlines. Spread this petition to your friends, family, and colleagues. We must do our part to keep on fighting for Meriam.

In a recent statement, Meriam's husband, Daniel Wani, a US citizen, has expressed his disappointment over the lack of urgency on the part of the US authorities to help his wife:

"Considering I am an American citizen, I am disappointed with the American Embassy's position from the beginning of the whole case. At the start of the issue, I reported it to them but they didn't take much interest, particularly the consulate. They said they didn't have time. In fact last time, they said they didn't care much about the case. They came late – they intervened when they saw the issue was getting press attention – but the intervention was late.”

The situation -- across the board -- is being mishandled: a lack of interest and urgency from the US government… a lack of interest and urgency from UN officials and others in the international community.

As this petition is being sent directly to the UN Human Rights Commissioner, it is being Cc'd to the President of Sudan (a really bad guy), and the Deputy Chief for the US Embassy in Sudan.

Help us urge them to act!
http://www.citizengo.org/en/7415-save-meriam

Warmest regards,

Gregory Mertz and the whole CitizenGO team

P.S. -- Many of you have already signed the petition. Could you help spread the word about Meriam by asking your friends and family to join you in signing? We can keep Meriam relevant, in today's headlines, with our effort to keep pressuring the proper parties to free Meriam. Together, let's keep talking about the injustice in the Sudan – the Meriam story!
For more information, I invite you to read: http://blog.citizengo.org/usa/2014/05/26/meriam-still-needs-our-help/

____
CitizenGO.org is a community of active citizens that seeks to defend life, the family and the fundamental rights worldwide. To know more about CitizenGO click here or follow us in Facebook or Twitter.--

The Sudan

The Sudan has suffered devastation by man and nature.  Lord have mercy.  A few years ago I was horrified by the confusing conflicts.  I still have a poster up in my room, that reads, "Stop the Genocide,"  Be a Voice for Darfur.

Presently, I am reading What is the What by Dave Eggers.  Eggers writes of his life as one of the "The Lost Boys."  The setting is the Sudan.  Then today I read in Zenit, that the Church is more than a little worried about the new border line drawn between North and South Sudan.  Violence is always feared.  What will happen to the Christian minority in Muslim North Sudan?  Prayers are needed.

A few years ago, when I first heard of the terrible trouble in Darfur, I wrote this poem.  Today, it all came back to me, as I pray for this poor country.

A Window into Darfur or a study of Complacency*

Ann's retirement home was idyllic:
water view, temperate climate, close to nature.
Stories of deer crossing through and salt licks,
co-hogging, bass fishing, trapping lobsters,
and a tale of predator and prey that'll
always walk inside and around my head.

She tells of putting up a bird feeder
placed high on the large dining room window.
Clever arrangement, don't you think, to watch
and dine and let nature entertain?
Sparrows would gently land and peck at seeds.

Image via Wikipedia

First one, then two and more would come to feast.

A veritable convention!
A union meeting of laborers, A.F.B.U.
Amalgamated Feather Bearers' Union.
Noisy, all clamoring for position.
It made her laugh, such raucous behavior.
No Robert Rules ruled here, just pure chaos.

Soon, the sparrows that came often became
individuals with familiar markings.
There was Bossy Bertha and Tiny Tim...
you get the idea, they became pets.
It became a study of comparison
between us and them, skin and feathers.

But in the Garden of Eden roamed
an insidious serpent.  Ann's didn't crawl
on its belly, rather it flew from high
and swooped down swiftly snatching smaller prey.
Hawks!  Yes, hawks invaded Ann's domain.
A veritable feast for predators.

Imagine the dining table that night--
conversation stopped with a thud.
a thud on the window and a red
feathered smear dripping down into steamers and broth.
What the hell?  Yes, what the hell.  What the hell!
The sparrows were gone, scattered in a shriek.

But sparrows have short memories and came back.
Only to be snatched up in grasping talons
and smashed against the idyllic opening.
The water view, the temperate clime so close
to nature, too close too much nature.
Naivety lured the innocent.

What started with such promise, a good idea;
even a mutual beneficial deal:
people provide food, and birds entertain,
ended with a twist from Mother Nature.
A cruel lesson on human interference:
an indictment of indifference.

That's just like the janjaweed,
who swooped down on the farmers,
killing, raping, looting a path;
shocking complacent diners who
are repulsed, but turn a blind eye and
yawn indifference and shrug helplessly.

After all, only the strong survive.
Ethnic cleansing is an exaggeration.
Genocide's not possible, states the UN.
What can one do against hawks, or
devils riding on horseback, leaving
trails of dripping blood and feathers?

*The Preacher Poets, ed. Mr. Robert Curtis, O.P., pp. 12-14.

Your Prayer for Today

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. From the Sudan.