Meriam Yehya Ibrahim Ishag, a 27-year old Christian, was sentenced to death by hanging earlier this month for the “crime” of refusing to renounce her faith. Meriam has also been sentenced to 100 lashes for being married to a Christian man.

This is an outrageous violation of an individual’s most basic human right. We all deserve the right to practice the religion of our choice. This clearly isn’t the case in Sudan where citizens can be sentenced to death for their religious beliefs. It is appalling and has no place in any civilized country.

The international community needs to stand as one on Meriam’s side and pressure the Sudanese government to abide by international standards of freedom of religion or belief.

That is why I am cosponsoring a resolution introduced by my colleagues, Senators Marco Rubio (R- FL) and Chris Coons (D-DE), that condemns the death sentence against Meriam Yehya Ibrahim Ishag and calls for her immediate and unconditional release from prison, where she remains with her twenty month-old son. Our resolution encourages U.S. efforts to ensure that the government of Sudan abides by international standards of freedom of religion or belief before normalizing relations or lifting sanctions.

The U.S. is looked upon as a beacon of hope because of the rights we afford to our citizens, but our Founding Fathers had to fight for those rights. This is all the more reason we must stand strong with those fighting persecution for their religious beliefs. Turning a blind eye to the Sudanese government’s egregious violation of Meriam’s rights would be a failure to uphold our obligation to advocate for religious freedom for all.