A/HRC/28/68/Add.1 490. Notwithstanding the information presented by the Government, the Rapporteur concludes that the Government of Sri Lanka, by failing to protect the physical and mental integrity of Ms. X, has violated her right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as provided for in articles 1 and 16 of the CAT. Sudan (a) JUA 14/05/2014 Case No. SDN 2/2014 State Reply: None to date Allegations concerning the case of Ms. Meriam Ibrahim who is facing punishments of public flogging and execution if found guilty on charges of apostasy and adultery in a hearing to be held on 15 May 2014. 491. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Government of Sudan has not replied to the present communication, thereby failing to cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 25/13, and to comply with its obligation, under international customary law, to investigate, prosecute and punish all acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as codified, inter alia, in the Convention against Torture (CAT). 492. The Joint Urgent Action included allegations that Ms. Ibrahim, a woman who was raised as a Christian and is accused of apostasy for marrying a Christian man, was subjected to beatings, aggressive interrogation, denial of food and of access to a lawyer while detained in Omdurman Women’s Prison. At the time of the urgent appeal, she was close to giving birth to a child. It was also alleged that a court had invalidated her Christian matrimony and given her three days to “return to Islam”. 493. As observed by the Special Rapporteur in his 2012-report to the General Assembly (A/67/279), there is evidence of an evolving standard within international bodies and a robust State practice to frame the debate about the legality of the death penalty within the context of the fundamental concepts of human dignity and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This evolving standard, along with the resulting illegality of the death penalty under such prohibition, is developing into a norm of customary law, if it has not already done so (para. 74). The Special Rapporteur calls upon all States to reconsider whether the use of the death penalty per se respects the inherent dignity of the human person, causes severe mental and physical pain or suffering and constitutes a violation of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (para. 79). 494. In addition, the penalty of flogging is, under any circumstance, a violation of the absolute prohibition on torture. 495. In the absence of information to the contrary, the Rapporteur concludes that there is substance in the allegations presented in the initial communication, reiterated above, and thus, that the Government of Sudan, by failing to protect the physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Ibrahim, has violated her right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as provided by articles 1 and 16 of the CAT. 496. It has come to the attention of the Special Rapporteur, that, as of the drafting of this report, the execution of Ms. Ibrahim has not taken place and that she and her family have taken refuge in the United States. The Rapporteur strongly urges the Government of Sudan to refrain from and abolish the practice of flogging and of executions. (b) 84 JUA 09/12/2013 Case No. SDN 3/2014 State Reply: 06/06/2014 Allegations concerning the arrest and incommunicado detention of Mr. Mohamed Salah Mohamed Abdelrhman, intimidation of his family and attack on one of his family members.