IHEU News

The latest International Humanist & Ethical Union News email:

This is the regular update of news from International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU). You can find the full versions of these news stories on our web site. We are also on twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Tell your friends about this newsletter: you can forward it (visit this link) or ask them to visit www.iheu.org/newsletter to subscribe.

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APPLY NOW for IHEU-HIVOS 2010 grants
IHEU invites applications for funding in the IHEU-HIVOS Humanist Network and Development programme for 2010. The deadline for applications is 1 September 2010. Read more

New activities section on iheu.org home page
A new section highlighting some of IHEU's international activities has been added to the iheu.org home page. These activities include Representing Humanism to the world, Growth and development, Congress travel grants and the Ugandan schools project. Read more

Hundreds join London protest against religious laws
Several hundred people joined One Law for All on 20 June at Downing Street to show their opposition to Sharia and religious-based laws in Britain and elsewhere and to demand universal rights and secularism. A new report "Sharia Law in Britain: A Threat to One Law for All and Equal Rights" was published on the day to coincide with the rally. Read more

Australian Atheists welcome new Prime Minister "who keeps religion out of politics"
The Atheist Foundation of Australia (AFA) today congratulated Julia Gillard on her appointment as the new Prime Minister of Australia. Read more

Challenging “Untouchability” in Nigeria
Discrimination against "untouchable castes" afflicts nearly quarter of a billion people around the world. Although many people assume "untouchability" is restricted to communities with a Hindu background, this dehumanizing tradition is found in cultures as different as Japan and Nigeria. In an article in a leading Nigerian newspaper, Leo Igwe explained how the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) is working to overcome "untouchability" in Nigeria, despite the government’s official denial of the problem. Read more

Slavery and non-belief
In a statement to the Human Rights Council on 15 June 2010, IHEU Main Representative, Roy Brown, protested against discrimination against non-believers, which, in several states that belong to the Human Rights Council, includes the death penalty for those who reject belief in any god. Brown highlighted a case from the Maldives earlier this month, where Mohammed Nazim was threatened with the death penalty after publicly stating that he found himself unable to believe in Islam. Read more

Women’s right to life
In a statement to the Human Rights Council on 15 June 2010, IHEU Main Representative Roy Brown, highlighted the vital need to recognize the reproductive rights of women. Acknowledging the importance of better reproductive health care, Brown went on to emphasize that "women also desperately need reproductive rights: the information, the means, and the freedom to decide whether and when to become pregnant" in order to reduce the "appalling toll of maternal mortality". Read more

Pakistan "playing with fire"
In a strong statement to the Human Rights Council on 9 June 2010, IHEU Main Representative Roy Brown accused Pakistan of encouraging discrimination and hatred against religious minorities. Citing condemnation of Pakistan by the Muslim Canadian Congress and a recent resolution of the European parliament calling on Pakistan to remove expressions of hatred from its government approved school textbooks, he reminded the Council and the government of Pakistan that it was government and media support for expressions of hatred that led to the Nazi Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda. Read more

Prisons should focus on secular programmes, not on religious interventions, say British Humanists
Prisons should avoid making a fetish of faith and treat prisoners equally, regardless of their religion or belief, the British Humanist Association (BHA) said today. The BHA made comments following the publication of a report, by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, on Muslims in prison. Read more

IHEU condemns UK, Ireland and Pakistan over Freedom of Expression
In a speech condemning the recent passage of a blasphemy law in Ireland, and UK legislation which criminalises, among other things, causing "religiously aggravated distress", Roy Brown, IHEU Main Representative at the UN Geneva, asked the Human Rights Council whether these two governments have forgotten that it is individuals not ideas or beliefs that merit protection. He also criticized the way in which, at the other extreme, Pakistan permits expression of hatred in the media against Ahmadiyyas and other religious minorities to go unchecked. Read more

IHEU pleads for women’s autonomy at UN
In the annual all-day debate on the Human Rights of Women at the UN Human Rights Council, IHEU representative Magali Prince got the only laugh of the day when she suggested that rather than expecting women to veil themselves from head to foot to avoid provoking men’s lust, a more appropriate solution would be for men to stay indoors until they learned some self-control. Read more

Maldavian faces death for “failure to believe”
When the renowned Islamist preacher Dr Zakir Naik visited the Maldives this week his audience of over 11000 was the largest ever assembled in that island state for a religious lecture. What Dr Naik may not have anticipated, however, was the earthquake that erupted at the end of his talk. A young Maldavian, Mohammed Nazim, asked Dr Naik how Islam viewed a man like him, who had learned all about Islam, had read many books, but was unable to believe? He now knows the answer. Read more

IHEU cites misogyny and corruption as major obstacles to development
At the Millennium Summit in New York exactly ten years ago, the UN General Assembly adopted ten "Millennium Development Goals" (MDGs) aimed at eliminating poverty, hunger and inequality, and improving healthcare and education worldwide by the year 2015. Today the goal furthest from achievement is MDG 5 "improving the health of women" with an estimated 500,000 women still dying every year from pregnancy related causes. Read more

IHEU welcomes UN focus on Nigerian witch hunts
The disgraceful problem of child witch hunts in Nigeria has been addressed for the first time by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC). In a May 26 meeting with a large delegation of senior government representatives from Nigeria, the CRC raised a number of child rights issues, including birth registration, children in conflict with the law, adolescent health, adoption, child trafficking, street children, child marriage as well as witchcraft allegations against children. Read more

Christian advert declaring "there definitely is a God" is most complained about non-broadcast ad ever
An advertisement campaign run by the Christian Party, declaring "There definitely is a God. So join the Christian Party and enjoy your life", has not only topped the Advertising Standards Authority’s Top 10 of most complained about adverts in 2009, it is the most complained about non-broadcast advert ever. The adverts were on the sides of buses, deliberately mirroring the British Humanist Association’s high-profile "Atheist Bus Campaign" from earlier in the same year. Read more

British Humanists give mixed response to new Government policies
The British Humanist Association (BHA) has responded to policy announcements by the new UK Government. The BHA welcomed the commitment to human rights outlined in a major speech by new Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, but expressed "surprise and disappointment" with the new government’s pledge to create more state-funded religious schools. Read more

IHEU General Assembly 2010
The IHEU General Assembly 2010 will be held at the offices of Centre d'Action Laique (CAL), Campus de la Plaine – CP 236, Avenue Arnaud Fraiteur, Acces 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium on Friday 6 August 2010 (9.30 am to 5.30 pm) and Saturday 7 August 2010 (9.30 am to 12.30 pm). There will also be a preliminary session at the same venue on Thursday 5 August 2010 (2.00 pm to 5.00 pm) with presentations on campaigning in India, Humanism in Belgium and Secularism. All those registering will be sent further information. Read more