Freedom of religion or belief: responding to the Holy See

ORAL STATEMENT

International Humanist and Ethical Union

UN Human Rights Council, 37^th Session (27^th February – 23^rd March 2018)

General Debate on Item 3

During the Interactive Dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, the Holy See claimed that “freedom from religion” is not protected by international law.^[1]

We’re not sure what it meant, because: freedom from coercion to adopt a religion is protected by law; freedom to have no religion is protected by law; freedom to leave a religion is protected by law; and freedom to criticise a religion is protected by law.^[2]

And we might remember these freedoms when considering that:

• 85 countries severely discriminate against non-religious individuals; seven countries actively persecute them.^[3]
• In Bangladesh, India and the Maldives bloggers and writers have been murdered for being secularists. On Saturday, Bangladeshi physicist Muhammed Zafar was stabbed in the head for being an atheist and therefore an “enemy of Islam.”^[4]
• In Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Iran countless individuals are imprisoned, flogged or on death row for insulting or rejecting religion.^[5]

State-based hate against those with no religious belief is also notable:

• Government officials in Malaysia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have repeatedly voiced incitement to hatred against humanists and atheists.^[6]
• In Cyprus, religious education resources recommend rejection of atheism, characterizing atheists as materialistic and immoral.^[7]

The Special Rapporteur has previously observed that there exists a misconception that humanists and secularists require no protection.^[8]

We ask therefore: How many more humanists, atheists and secularists need to be killed, imprisoned, persecuted and disproportionately targeted for this misconception to change?

We thank the Special Rapporteur for his correction of the Holy See’s claims last Friday, but so long as the rest of the international community stay silent, the rights of the invisible minority of non-believers across the world will continue to be trampled upon, including by members of this Council.

Endnotes

^[1] http://webtv.un.org, Holy See statement during ID with UN SR on FoRB

^[2] CCPR General Comment No. 22: Article 18 (Freedom of Thought, Conscience or Religion)

^[3] http://iheu.org/humanists-actively-persecuted-seven-countries-2017-finds-iheu-report/

^[4] http://www.dw.com/en/bangladesh-top-secular-writer-zafar-iqbal-attacked-at-university/a-42813525; http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2018/03/04/attacked-zafar-iqbal-enemy-islam/, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/gauri-lankesh-murder-here-s-a-list-of-writers-and-journalists-killed-in-recent-years/story-LEcs4gq18AIH3WXsalDdOI.html, http://iheu.org/murder-maldives-tragic-consequence-state-democracy-obliterated/

^[5] http://iheu.org/death-for-apostasy-must-not-stand-free-ashraf-fayadh/, https://www.change.org/p/amnesty-international-free-soheil-arabi

^[6] http://iheu.org/atheism-dangerous-unconstitutional-says-government-minister-malaysia-wrongly/, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/opinion/mona-eltahawy-egypts-war-on-atheism.html http://iheu.org/humanists-denounce-proposed-law-criminalize-atheism-egypt/, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-declares-all-atheists-are-terrorists-in-new-law-to-crack-down-on-political-dissidents-9228389.html

^[7] http://iheu.org/atheists-selfish-act-without-moral-inhibitions-cyprus-schools-tell-children/

^[8] http://freethoughtreport.com/editorial-introduction/

Suggested academic reference

'Freedom of religion or belief: responding to the Holy See', Humanists International