“International Human Rights Day offers us an opportunity to reflect on the situation of people around the world and to realize how human rights are still being restricted and what we can do about it.” This was underlined today by the President of the Humanist Association of Germany, Florian Zimmermann, on the occasion of International Human Rights Day on December 10, 2017. It is also important not to rest on our laurels in a stable situation. “In recent years in Germany, for example, there have been repeated attempts to subordinate the human right to asylum or a decent life without gainful employment to economic issues. Yet human rights are the most important foundation of our state and a non-negotiable part of humanism.”
Zimmermann also referred to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” This also includes the negative freedom of religion, the right not to have a religious belief, not to have to profess a religious belief and not to have to participate in religious rites. The violations of this human right are documented in the annual report Freedom of Thought which was presented last Tuesday at the seat of the European Parliament in Brussels. Since a discussion between the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) and the Humanist Association of Germany on the situation of religiously persecuted atheists two years ago, this report has also been sent to the BAMF.
The report of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), the international umbrella organization of humanist associations with special consultative status at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, has been published annually since 2012. The Freedom of Thought report documents and evaluates in particular abuses in relation to the rights, legal status and discrimination against humanists, atheists and non-religious people in more than 180 countries. The foreword for this year’s edition was written by Ensaf Haidar, wife of Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi, who was imprisoned in June 2012 and punished with ten years in prison and 1,000 lashes. Haidar emphasized that many governments and state institutions still use religion to suppress “disruptive” views. Badawi described himself as a liberal Muslim, but was convicted of “apostasy” and “insulting Islam”.
“The situation in Saudi Arabia is a particularly extreme, but unfortunately not rare, example of the fundamental disregard for the right to religious freedom,” emphasized Florian Zimmermann. In 55 countries, there are still legal bans that threaten “blasphemy” with severe penalties. 22 countries criminalize the renunciation of a religion. In 13 countries, people risk a death sentence if they profess to be non-religious.
In Lower Saxony, the ruling coalition of CDU and SPD recently discussed “the introduction of another church/statutory holiday in Lower Saxony”. In order to highlight the relevance of human rights and to give people time to reflect on this important issue, the Humanist Association of Lower Saxony has proposed December 10 as a legally protected Human Rights Day. “A proposal that can be supported by all people and thus an essential impulse of lived integration for all religions and world views,” according to the petition, which can also be supported by people from other federal states as symbolic support.
On the topic
Freedom of Thought report: www.freethoughtreport.com
Petition “A public holiday for all”: www.openpetition.de/petition/online/ein-feiertag-fuer-alle
HVD: Humanistische Perspektiven zur Flüchtlingsaufnahme und -politik
Image: humanrightslogo.net
