Responding to the US Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom and the US ‘Potomac Declaration’ and Plan of Action

This General Assembly recalls:

IHEU’s consistent commitment since its foundation in 1952 to the human right of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief, as given expression in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights seventy years ago;

The 1983 IHEU policy statement on Humanism and Secularism that ‘freedom of conscience constitutes the key to other freedoms’ and that beliefs ‘should neither be obligatory nor prohibited’;

The 2014 Oxford Declaration on Freedom of Thought and Expression;

The 2017 London Declaration on Secularism;

IHEU’s long-standing opposition to blasphemy laws, including its leadership of the global End Blasphemy Laws campaign;

The fact that humanists and other non-religious people in recent years and today are victims of the most vicious violations of freedom of religion or belief across the world, including persecution up to death, in the past two years alone in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh;

IHEU’s long-standing work to address these instances of persecution including through the annual publication of the Freedom of Thought Report since 2012.

This General Assembly therefore:

Welcomes active support by all and any states of the human right to freedom of religion or belief, which includes the right to leave and change a religion or belief;

Welcomes, in light of this, the fact that increasing numbers of states are making a priority of freedom of religion or belief, including the holding by the US government of a ministerial in Washington DC on this topic between 24-26 July;

Welcomes the call to “repeal oppressive blasphemy laws” in that ministerial and for respect of the right of people to leave a religion;

Notes nonetheless with serious concern much of the language used by states participating in the ministerial and in the US Government’s ‘Potomac Declaration’, which:

• refers to the right to freedom of religion or belief as “god-given”;
• quickly moves away from the inclusive language of ‘thought, conscience, religion or belief’ to focus almost exclusively on ‘religious freedom’;
• asserts the right of parents to “ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions” but which fails to take into account the right of the child to freedom of religion or belief in line with their own developing capacities.

Notes with concern the misuse of “religious freedom” as a justification for limiting the rights and freedoms of others;

Also notes with concern the exclusion from the summit of humanist and other non-religious victims and survivors of persecution and near total exclusion of humanists at all (with an invitation to IHEU made at the last minute on the morning of the Ministerial itself.)

This General Assembly resolves:

To write, expressing the views of the global humanist movement as outlined above to:

• Vice President of the United States Mike Pence,
• US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,
• US Ambassador to the United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley,
• US International Ambassador for Religious Freedom Ambassador Sam Brownback,
• UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religion or Belief Dr Ahmed Shaheed,
• UK Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief Lord Ahmed,
• Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief outside the EU Jan Figel,
• Danish Special Representative for Freedom of Religion or Belief Ambassador Franz-Michael Mellbin,
• and representatives of the states present at the International Ministerial in Washington DC and relevant officials,

and offer to them the support of IHEU in addressing violations of freedom of religion or belief and in promoting freedom of religion or belief, and encouraging them to be fully inclusive of humanist and other non-religious victims and survivors of violations of the freedom.

Suggested academic reference

'Responding to the US Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom and the US ‘Potomac Declaration’ and Plan of Action', Humanists International, General Assembly, Auckland, New Zealand, 2018