The Humanist Movement in Sweden and the International Humanist community call upon the Swedish authorities to reopen the case of Khalid Saeed from Pakistan, whose application for a residence permit in Sweden has been rejected by the Migration Board. He could now be sent back to Pakistan with his entire family.

The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) is calling for Sweden to provide asylum to Khalid Saeed, a Pakistani atheist and apostate from Islam who fled his homeland to live in Sweden.  Khalid’s initial request for asylum was rejected by Swedish authorities because they did not accept that his outspoken atheism had made it unsafe for him and his family in Pakistan.

In a morning-long debate on traditional values at the Human Rights Council on Tuesday 22 March 2011, the Pakistani delegate, speaking on behalf of the 57 member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) was allowed by the president to overrun his allotted three minute by a further seven in order to express his outrage at an incident reported just that morning. Was it the massacre of peaceful demonstrators in Damascus? No. The killing of peaceful demonstrators in Yemen or Bahrain? No. His diatribe was against the burning of a copy of the Quran in Florida.

When IHEU were prevented on a technicality from delivering a speech on blasphemy and violence in the name of religion at the 16th session of the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, Center for Inquiry kindly agreed to collaborate and deliver a statement jointly crafted by the two organizations. Unfortunately, Georgina Hutchinson, CFI main representative in Geneva was unable to deliver the speech when the session ended early on Friday 11 March, and the speech was actually delivered by Jack Jeffery of IHEU at 9:15 this morning. Here is the speech in full.

The saddest aspect of the recent ruthless murder of Salman Taseer, Governor of Punjab, was not so much the viciousness of the killing but the vicious celebration of his death. Taseer was shot dead on January 4, 2011 by Mumtaz Qadri, a member of the governor's special security squad.

It is quite well known in Pakistan that torture prevails both in police and military custody. Torture is still the primary method by which crimes are investigated. The law of the land is silent on the issue of torture by the law enforcement agencies.

On Thursday September 17 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, International PEN, with support from three other organisations and the Norwegian Mission to the UN Geneva, hosted a public meeting called "Faith and Free Speech, Defamation of Religions and Freedom of Expression." The consensus that emerged from the meeting was that criminalising defamation of religion is not the way forward.

Famous human rights activist, Board member of the Muslim Canadian Congress and International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) Representative Raheel Raza confronts Tariq Ramadan and the Pakistani Ambassador representing the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

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

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.