Humanists International calls for the repeal of “blasphemy” laws as UN experts warn of rising far-right extremism

In a statement to the general debate at the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, Humanists International has asked States to count the non-religious among the human rights defenders targeted by the exclusion that UN experts describe, to repeal “blasphemy” laws, and to make sure that reform of the UN human rights system widens rather than narrows the space in which defenders can be heard.

The statement was delivered by Leon Langdon, Senior Advocacy Officer at Humanists International, under item 9 of the Council’s agenda, which covers racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance, and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.

Humanists International welcomed the report of the Group of Independent Eminent Experts on the Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, which records the rise of “far-right extremism, characterized by exclusionary conceptions of national, racial, religious or cultural identity”, and the resulting “normalization of hate speech, misinformation and racially and religiously motivated violence”.

Taking that finding as its starting point, the statement set out the position of the non-religious in many countries, who are persecuted by State and non-State actors for exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief. They are labelled dissidents, extremists, terrorists, or deviants, and carry considerable personal and social risk as a result. States have also engaged in transnational repression against non-religious activists, with some receiving death threats while in exile and others seeing their families harassed. “Blasphemy” laws, which remain on the statute book in more than 80 States, are used to prosecute religious and belief minorities.

The statement then pointed to the Ottawa Declaration on Humanism as Resistance, adopted this year at the World Humanist Congress in Ottawa, which sets out many of the same challenges. The Declaration argues that strengthening human rights institutions so that they can support defenders is itself a form of resistance to far-right extremism and authoritarianism, because it gives defenders a voice when other spaces have become too hostile to use.

As defenders turn to institutions for a platform and for protection, Humanists International said, those institutions must be accountable, accessible, and in the service of human rights. On that basis it called on States to repeal “blasphemy” laws, to recognize the non-religious among the defenders the Experts describe, and to ensure that reform of the UN human rights system widens rather than narrows the space for defenders to be heard meaningfully.

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