ORAL STATEMENT
Humanists International
61st Session of the UN Human Rights Council (23rd February – 31st March 2026)
Item 4: Human Rights situations that require the Council’s attention
Speaker: Onur Romano
Mr. President,
I make this statement on behalf of Humanists International and Ateizm Derneği—the Association of Atheism Turkey.
Türkiye calls itself a secular democracy. We call it what it is: a state that criminalizes disbelief.
Article 216(3) of the Penal Code is a blasphemy law dressed as justice. It targets our organiszation—the only legally recognized atheist human rights body in the Muslim world.
Our website is blocked. In 2014, our founder faced politically motivated convictions. In 2017, our board member, Barbaros Şansal, was mob-lynched at Istanbul Airport and jailed under Article 216,[1] while 12 of his 13 attackers went free.[2] In 2024, the state’s own religious authority filed charges against linguist Sevan Nişanyan for mocking the call to prayer online.[3] That year, our volunteer, lawyer Feyza Altun was arrested, travel-banned, and given a 9-month suspended sentence for criticizing Sharia Law on social media.[4]
In July 2025, LEMAN’s editor was dragged off a plane in handcuffs—over a cartoon. President Erdoğan vowed he’d “answer” for it.[5] In 2026, the Education Minister launched probes against hundred-and-sixty-eight writers, artists, and academics for signing a pro-secularism letter.[6]
Not for violence. Not for hate. For Words. For Drawings. For Signatures.
We demand Article 216 repealed, and equal protection for the right NOT to believe.
Apostasy is not a crime.
Disbelief is not a threat.
Silence from this Council would be.
Thank you
[1] https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur44/5431/2017/en/
[2] https://bianet.org/haber/court-acquits-12-people-who-attacked-fashion-designer-barbaros-sansal-at-airport-255936
[3] https://turkishminute.com/2024/01/23/religious-directorate-say-armenian-writer-should-prosecuted-for-remarks-on-islamic-call-to-prayer/
[4] https://stockholmcf.org/lawyer-gets-suspended-sentence-due-to-remarks-on-islamic-law/
[5] https://rsf.org/en/t%C3%BCrkiye-rsf-condemns-serial-arrests-staff-satirical-magazine-leman-editor-chief-aslan-%C3%B6zdemir
[6] https://stockholmcf.org/turkey-investigates-168-signatories-of-secularism-manifesto-after-education-ministry-complaint/
'Blasphemy Laws in Türkiye', Humanists International