The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) has condemned a planned public burning of the Quran by a Florida church on the 9th anniversary of the 11 September 2001 attacks. IHEU is the world union of more than 100 Humanist, rationalist, secular, ethical culture, atheist and freethought organizations in more than 40 countries.

Italian freethinkers have welcomed a court ruling that requires public schools to provide alternatives to Catholic classes on religion. The Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (UAAR), an IHEU member organization, provided financial and legal support for the case brought by the parents of a child attending a state primary school in Padua.

IHEU has protested to the Nigerian government about the brutal persecution of Leo Igwe, IHEU Representative for West Africa, and his family. Igwe and members of his family have been subjected to a sustained campaign of harassment by Nigerian police, soldiers and criminals. The latest attack, on August 4, resulted in grievous injuries to Leo’s elderly father, who lost an eye as a result. The harassment is the result of the Igwes’ efforts to bring to justice a powerful local man accused of raping a ten year old girl.

A 25 year-old air traffic controller, Ismail Mohamed Didi, was found hanged from the control tower of the international airport in the Maldives on Tuesday, July 13, after he apparently killed himself to escape persecution for his rejection of religion. The suicide is the latest tragedy in a series of persecutions of non-believers in a nation that claims to be "100 percent Muslim." The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) is raising the issue with the United Nations and representatives of the Maldives government.

IHEU is seeking donations to its Human Rights Defense Fund to help cover legal fees for Leo Igwe, IHEU’s Representative in West Africa. Mr. Igwe and members of his family have been subjected to a sustained campaign of harassment by local police involving multiple arrests on unsubstantiated charges. Disponibile anche in italiano - vedi sotto

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.

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 this week 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.

In a statement to the Human Rights Council today, 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.

In a statement to the Human Rights Council this morning, 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".