In a joint statement with two other NGOs at the UN Human Rights Council on 12 March, IHEU exposed the hypocrisy of the Islamic States who, while attacking the Swiss referendum banning the construction of new minarets “which are no more central to Islam than spires are to Christianity”, chose to completely ignore the oppression of religious minorities, the murder of Christians, and the burning of churches in several of their own countries.

IHEU has spoken out at the United Nations against the harassment of its International Representative Leo Igwe in Nigeria, and against proposed discriminatory legislation in Uganda. The statement was delivered at the Geneva Human Rights Council by IHEU Representative David Cornut. A video of the statement is available here.

In a decision that may have serious implications for church-state separation, the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has ruled that the governmental use of the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance does not violate the U.S. Constitution. In a 2-1 decision, the court stated that the phrase does not form an unacceptable government endorsement of religion in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Representatives of the IHEU affiliate the National Secular Society delivered a 28,000-name petition to 10 Downing Street on 4 March 2010, requesting that the cost of Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to Britain be borne by the Church rather than the taxpayer. The delegation from the NSS presented the petition with a covering letter to prime minister Gordon Brown calling on him to downgrade the visit to “pastoral” so that the Church is made responsible for the estimated £20 million cost.

You are invited to an IHEU sponsored conference in Kenya, on March 27 and 28.