Between us, myself and volunteer representative Kacem El Ghazzali spent a total of three weeks at Geneva last month. As part of my work I serve as Vice Chair on the UN NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief in Geneva. Of course it's very important we are there to ensure that the focus is on the right kind of 'freedom of religion or belief', and that the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief is upheld for all, including humanists and the non-religious, non-conformists, dissenters, and so on. The Chair and I met with state representatives from the International Contact Group for Freedom of Religion or Belief (ICG-FoRB), which occupies a unique role, enhancing information-sharing and cooperation between states committed to protecting and promoting this human right. Our NGO Committee also organized a meeting between civil society representatives and the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Ahmed Shaheed (5 March). It's an important opportunity to improve everyone's literacy about 'religion or belief' in a human rights context, to make sure the Special Rapporteur is aware of civil society's views, and to network with everyone from any 'religion or belief' background about how we can work together for human rights. On 7 March, I was a panellist at a side-event on "Defending Expression and Diversity of Religion and Belief or Non-Belief in the Digital Age." We were co-organizers of the event alongside the Association for Progressive Communications and FORUM-ASIA. Free expression about beliefs and ideas online is a vital topic: so many of the "blasphemy" and "sedition" and "insult" cases coming to court around the world right now grow out of ordinary people using social media in perfectly legitimate ways to express themselves. That's not the only issue here. But it's an important one, and one that we are able to keep at the forefront, contributing to real pressure on states to take a step back on their sometimes vehement responses to online opinion. "it's truly important we are present to highlight and defend the rights of women in the religion-or-belief context – where of course frequently those rights are threatened or forgotten!"
Meanwhile, the Danish Special Representative for Freedom of Religion or Belief is launching a consultation on gender equality within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals. I was invited to be a member of the expert group leading it, so I was part of the direction-setting first meeting, and the official launch. I am delighted we are part of this initiative; it's truly important we are present to highlight and defend the rights of women in the religion-or-belief context – where of course frequently those rights are threatened or forgotten! In addition you can read all about our interventions at the Human Rights Council itself, on the Geneva pages of the new Humanists International website. In particular, we spoke in support of a report on 'blasphemy' law by the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. Crucially Ahmed Shaheed has continued to criticize states which maintain 'blasphemy' laws, and confirms that they violate human rights and must be abolished. |