Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union, or IHEU, from 1952–2019) is an
international non-governmental organisation
An international non-governmental organization (INGO) is an organization which is independent of government involvement and extends the concept of a non-governmental organization (NGO) to an international scope.
NGOs are independent of government ...
championing
secularism
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations.
Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...
and
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
, motivated by
secular humanist
Secular humanism is a philosophy, belief system or life stance that embraces human reason, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality ...
values. Founded in Amsterdam in 1952, it is an umbrella organisation made up of more than 160 secular humanist,
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
,
rationalist,
agnostic
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
,
skeptic
Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the ...
,
freethought and
Ethical Culture
The Ethical movement, also referred to as the Ethical Culture movement, Ethical Humanism or simply Ethical Culture, is an ethical, educational, and religious movement that is usually traced back to Felix Adler (1851–1933). organisations from over 80 countries.
Humanists International campaigns globally on human rights issues, with a specific emphasis on defending
freedom of thought
Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints.
Overview
Every person attempts to have a cognitive proficiency by ...
and
expression
Expression may refer to:
Linguistics
* Expression (linguistics), a word, phrase, or sentence
* Fixed expression, a form of words with a specific meaning
* Idiom, a type of fixed expression
* Metaphorical expression, a particular word, phrase, o ...
and the
rights
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...
of the
non-religious
Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and anti ...
, who are often a vulnerable minority in many parts of the world. The organisation is based in London but maintains a presence at the
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...
in Geneva, the
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
in New York, and the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
in Strasbourg, among other international institutions. Its advocacy work focuses on shaping debates on issues associated with humanism, the
rights
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...
of the
non-religious
Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and anti ...
, and promoting humanist attitudes to
social issues.
Humanists International is particularly active in challenging
blasphemy
Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...
and
apostasy
Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that i ...
laws around the world and
at the UN. Its annual ''Freedom of Thought Report'' indexes the world's countries by treatment of the non-religious and their commitment to freedom of thought and expression. Working with its member organisations, it also helps to coordinate support for those fleeing danger from
states which persecute the non-religious. It advocates a humanist approach to various social issues, contributing to
bioethical debates and arguing in favour of
sexual and reproductive health and rights
Sexual and reproductive health and rights or ''SRHR'' is the concept of human rights applied to sexuality and reproduction. It is a combination of four fields that in some contexts are more or less distinct from each other, but less so or not at ...
,
LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 33 ...
,
children's rights
Children's rights are a subset of human rights with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors. and
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
, and in opposition to
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
and
caste discrimination.
Outside of its advocacy work, Humanists International functions as the democratic organ of the global humanist movement. It holds a general assembly each year and a World Humanist Congress usually every three years; its next World Congress will be held in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
, in August 2023. Humanists International works to stimulate the growth of humanism and freethought and the spread of
Enlightenment values around the world by supporting activists to form effective organisations in their home countries. In 2002, the Humanists International general assembly unanimously adopted the
Amsterdam Declaration 2002
The Amsterdam Declaration 2002 is a statement of the fundamental principles of modern Humanism passed unanimously by the General Assembly of Humanists International (HI) at the 50th anniversary World Humanist Congress in 2002. According to HI, the ...
, which presents as "the official defining statement of World Humanism". Its official symbol, the
Happy Human
The Happy Human is an icon that has been adopted as an international symbol of secular humanism.
Created by Dennis Barrington, the figure was the winning design in a competition arranged by Humanists UK (formerly the British Humanist Associatio ...
, is shared with its member organisations worldwide.
Humanism as a life stance
In 2002, at the organisation's 50th anniversary World Humanist Congress, delegates unanimously passed a resolution known as the
Amsterdam Declaration 2002, an update of the original Amsterdam Declaration (1952).
The Amsterdam Declaration defines Humanism as a "
lifestance
A person's life stance, or lifestance, is their relation with what they accept as being of ultimate importance. It involves the presuppositions and theories upon which such a stance could be made, a belief system, and a commitment to potentials wo ...
" that is "ethical", "rational", supportive of "democracy and human rights", insisting "that personal liberty must be combined with social responsibility"; it is "an alternative to dogmatic religion"; it values "artistic creativity and imagination" and is aimed at living lives of "fulfillment" through the powers of "free inquiry", "science" and "creative imagination".
In addition to the Amsterdam Declaration's "official statement of World Humanism", Humanists International provides a "Minimum Statement on Humanism":
Humanism is a democratic and ethical
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...
life stance, which affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives. It stands for the building of a more humane society through an ethic based on human and other natural values in the spirit of reason and free inquiry through human capabilities. It is not theistic
Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of a supreme being or deities. In common parlance, or when contrasted with ''deism'', the term often describes the classical conception of God that is found in monotheism (also referred to ...
, and it does not accept supernatural
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
views of reality.
Member Organisations of Humanists International are required according to its membership regulations to have objects that are "consistent" with this understanding of Humanism.
Other major resolutions
At the World Humanist Congress in 2005, in France, the General Assembly adopted ''The Paris Declaration 2005'', on
state secularism, which states:
There can be no freedom of conscience when religions rule societies. Secularism is the demand for equal rights for those who belong to any religion as well as for those who belong to none... For IHEU and its member organizations, the State must be secular, that is, neither religious not atheist. But demanding genuine democratic equality, recognized by the Law, between believers and humanists does not mean that the member associations of IHEU treat all philosophical points of view equally. We have no duty to respect irrationalism, however ancient its origins. True Humanism is the flourishing of freedom of conscience and the methods of free inquiry.
In 2007, in an "unprecedented alliance" of the (then) International Humanist and Ethical Union, the
European Humanist Federation
The European Humanist Federation (EHF, french: Fédération Humaniste Européenne, FHE), officially abbreviated as EHF-FHE, is an umbrella of more than 60 humanist and secularist organisations from 25 European countries.
Founded in Prague in July ...
and
Catholics for Choice
Catholics for Choice (CFC) is a dissenting Catholic abortion rights advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. Formed in 1973 as Catholics for a Free Choice, the group gained notice after its 1984 advertisement in ''The New York Times'' challen ...
, launched the
Brussels Declaration
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, a secular response to a proposed
Berlin Declaration, under which the
amended EU Constitution would have made references to "
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
" and the "
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
roots of Europe". It made specific reference to policy positions on equality and human rights for different minority groups, concluding: "The principles and values on which European civilisation is founded are once again under threat. We call upon the people of Europe and all who care for freedom, democracy and the rule of law to join us in promoting and protecting them."
At World Humanist Congress 2011, in Norway, the Humanists International General Assembly adopted ''The Oslo Declaration on Peace'', which concludes: "We urge each of our member organizations and Humanists globally to work for a more peaceful culture in their own nations and urge all governments to prefer the peaceful settlement of conflicts over the alternative of violence and war."
At World Humanist Congress 2014, in the United Kingdom, the Humanists International General Assembly adopted ''The Oxford Declaration on Freedom of Thought and Expression'', which asserts: "Freedom of thought implies the right to develop, hold, examine and manifest our beliefs without coercion, and to express opinions and a worldview whether religious or non-religious, without fear of coercion. It includes the right to change our views or to reject beliefs previously held, or previously ascribed. Pressure to conform to ideologies of the state or to doctrines of religion is a tyranny."
In 2017, Humanists International held a special conference on threats to humanism and liberal democracy from rising
authoritarian
Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...
populism
Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...
and extremism as part of its general assembly in London. At the following general assembly in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, in 2018, Humanists International members agreed ''The Auckland Declaration on the Politics of Division'', which condemned a recent global resurgence of
demagogy
A demagogue (from Greek , a popular leader, a leader of a mob, from , people, populace, the commons + leading, leader) or rabble-rouser is a political leader in a democracy who gains popularity by arousing the common people against elites, e ...
, "exemplified in a new generation of so-called “
strong men” politicians, who purport to stand up for popular interests, but who are eager to diminish human rights and disregard minorities in order to gain and retain power for their own ends". The Declaration commits humanist organisations "to addressing the social causes of the politics of division: social inequality, a lack of respect for human rights, popular misconceptions about the nature of democracy" and affirms the "values of democracy, rule of law, equality, and human rights."
In 2019, Humanists International members unanimously passed the Reykjavik Declaration on the Climate Change Crisis, acknowledging the scientific consensus on
anthropogenic climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
committing the international humanist movement to "foster a social and political commitment to urgent action and long-term policymaking to mitigate and prevent climate change."
Organisation
Founding in 1952
Five Humanist organisations, the
American Ethical Union,
American Humanist Association, British Ethical Union (later the British Humanist Association and now
Humanists UK), Vienna Ethical Society and the
Dutch Humanist League hosted the founding congress of the International Humanist and Ethical Union in Amsterdam, 22–27 August 1952.
On the last day of the congress five resolutions were passed, which included a statement of the fundamentals of "modern, ethical Humanism", a resolution which would come to be known as the
Amsterdam Declaration (1952).
Current structure
![IHEYO logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/IHEYO_logo.png)
Humanists International is a democratic organisation,
the Board of which is elected by representatives of the Member Organisations at annual General Assemblies. The President as of 2015 is
Andrew Copson (who is also the Chief Executive of
Humanists UK as of 2010). The IHEU headquarters is in London. It shared an office with Humanists UK for many years until 2019.
Representatives of Humanists International Member Organisations ratify new memberships annually during a General Assembly. Following the 2017 General Assembly, the IHEU listed its membership as 139 Member Organisations from 53 countries from a variety of non-religious traditions.
A staff of four is headed by the current Chief Executive, Gary McLelland, and Humanists International maintains delegations to the
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...
in Geneva, the
United Nations in New York, and the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
in Strasbourg.
Humanists International is an international
NGO
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
with Special Consultative Status with the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
, General Consultative Status at the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
, Observer Status with the
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) is a quasi-judicial body tasked with promoting and protecting human rights and collective (peoples') rights throughout the African continent as well as interpreting the African Chart ...
, and maintains operational relations with
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
.
Humanists International has a wing for people aged up to 35 called the
Young Humanists International
Young Humanists International, known as the International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organisation or IHEYO from 2002–2019, is the youth wing of Humanists International
Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethic ...
.
The organization's 2017 General Assembly passed a resolution "mandating the Board to oversee a transition to a revised identity for the organization". The
rebrand
Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...
to Humanists International, a new
operating name for the IHEU, was completed in February 2019.
Board members
Humanists International is governed by an international
board of directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
, whose body is elected by member organisations at annual general assemblies, including a directly elected president.
As of October 2020, the Board of Humanists International comprises:
*
Andrew Copson (President) –
Humanists UK
* Anne-France Ketelaer (Vice President) –
deMens.nu, Flanders/Belgium
*
Boris van der Ham
Boris van der Ham (born 29 August 1973) is a Dutch writer, humanist, former politician, and actor. On 23 May 2002, he became a member of the House of Representatives for the Democrats 66, a social liberal party. From 24 November 2012 to 21 Nove ...
(Treasurer) –
Dutch Humanist Association
*
Debbie Goddard –
American Atheists
American Atheists is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to defending the civil liberties of atheists and advocating complete separation of church and state. It provides speakers for colleges, universities, clubs, and the ...
*
Kristin Mile –
Norwegian Humanist Association
The Norwegian Humanist Association ( no, Human-Etisk Forbund; HEF) is one of the largest secular humanist associations in the world, with over 130,000 members. Those members constitute 2.3% of the national population of 5.47 million, making HEF b ...
*
Leo Igwe
Leo Igwe (born 26 July 1970) is a Nigerian human rights advocate and humanist. Igwe is a former Western and Southern African representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, and has specialized in campaigning against and documenti ...
– Humanist Association of Nigeria
* Roslyn Mould – Humanist Association of Ghana
* Uttam Niraula – Society for Humanism (SOCH) Nepal
* David Pineda – Humanistas Guatemala
* Anya Overmann –
American Ethical Union (''ex officio'', President of
Young Humanists International
Young Humanists International, known as the International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organisation or IHEYO from 2002–2019, is the youth wing of Humanists International
Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethic ...
)
Strategy and activities
The aim of Humanists International is to "build, support and represent the global humanist movement, defending human rights, particularly those of
non-religious
Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and anti ...
people, and promoting humanist values world-wide".
As a campaigning NGO Humanists International aims "to influence international policy through representation and information, to build the humanist network, and let the world know about the worldview of Humanism."
The Freedom of Thought Report
![Freedom of Thought Report 2016 cover image](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Freedom_of_Thought_Report_2016_cover_image.png)
In 2012 Humanists International began publishing an annual report on "discrimination against humanists, atheists and the non-religious" called The Freedom of Thought Report.
The report centres around a "Country Index" with a textual entry for every
sovereign state
A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a polity, political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defin ...
.
Each country is measured against a list of 64 boundary conditions, which are categorised into four thematic categories ("Constitution and government", "Education and children's rights", "Family, community, society, religious courts and tribunals", and "Freedom of expression, advocacy of humanist values") at five levels of overall "severity" ("Free and equal", "Mostly satisfactory", "Systemic discrimination", "Severe discrimination" and "Grave violations"). The 64 boundary conditions include for example: "'Apostasy' or conversion from a specific religion is outlawed and punishable by death", which is placed at the worst level of severity, and under the category "Freedom of expression", and: "There is state funding of at least some religious schools", which is a middle severity condition, under the category "Education and children's rights". The data from the report is freely available under a
Creative Commons license
A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyrics ...
.
Findings of the Freedom of Thought Report
In 2017, the report found that 30 countries meet at least one boundary condition at the most severe level ("Grave violations"), and a further 55 countries met at least one boundary condition in the next most severe level ("Severe discrimination").
Responses to the Freedom of Thought Report
The various annual editions of the Freedom of Thought Report have been reported in the media under headlines such as: "How the right to deny the existence of God is under threat globally" (''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', UK); "Most countries fail to respect rights of atheists – report" (''
Christian Today
''Christian Today'' is a non-denominational Christian news company with its international headquarters in London, England.Christian Today > Contact Us/ref>
History
The website was established in 2000 to report on news in the global church a ...
''); and "
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...
's mockery of religion could land him the death penalty in these countries" (''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''). The report has received coverage in the national media of countries that are severely criticised, for example "Malaysia's free thought, religious expression under 'serious assault', study shows" (the ''
Malay Mail
The ''Malay Mail'' is a newspaper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, first published on 1 December 1896 when Kuala Lumpur was the capital of the then new Federated Malay States, making it the first daily newspaper to appear in the FMS. As of May 2014 ...
'').
Forewords and prefaces to the various annual editions of report have been written by then-
United Nations Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Religion or Belief,
Heiner Bielefeldt
Heiner Bielefeldt (12 April 1958) is a German philosopher, historian and Catholic theologian. He is Professor of Human Rights and Human Rights Policy at the University of Erlangen. From 2010 to 2016, he served as United Nations Special Rapporte ...
, in 2012; two victims of "blasphemy" accusations,
Kacem El Ghazzali
Kacem El Ghazzali (, ; born 24 June 1990), is a Moroccan-Swiss secularist essayist and activist and is one of the few publicly atheist Moroccans. Kacem speaks English, as well as German, French, Arabic and Berber. Mostly known for his publicly voi ...
and
Alber Saber in 2013; human rights defenders
Gulalai Ismail
Gulalai Ismail ( ps, ; ur, گلالئی اسماعیل) is a Pashtun human rights activist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. She is the chairperson of Aware Girls, a global ambassador for Humanists International, and a leading member of the ...
and Agnes Ojera in 2014; humanist activist and survivor of an
anti-secularist machete attack in Bangladesh,
Rafida Ahmed Bonya (2015); and
United Nations Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Religion or Belief,
Ahmed Shaheed
Ahmed Shaheed ( dv, ޝަހީދު, born January 27, 1964) is a Maldivian diplomat, politician and professor. On 24 March 2016, he was appointed for the sixth year running as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in t ...
, in 2016. In 2015 and 2016 the annual edition of the Freedom of Thought Report was launched at the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
hosted by the
European Parliamentary Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance chaired by
Dennis de Jong MEP.
In his foreword to the first edition of the Freedom of Thought Report,
Heiner Bielefeldt
Heiner Bielefeldt (12 April 1958) is a German philosopher, historian and Catholic theologian. He is Professor of Human Rights and Human Rights Policy at the University of Erlangen. From 2010 to 2016, he served as United Nations Special Rapporte ...
wrote:
As a universal human right, freedom of religion or belief has a broad application. However, there seems to be little awareness that this right also provides a normative frame of reference for atheists, humanists and freethinkers and their convictions, practices and organizations. I am therefore delighted that for the first time the Humanist community has produced a global report on discrimination against atheists. I hope it will be given careful consideration by everyone concerned with freedom of religion or belief.
At a panel event at the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
for the launch of the 2015 edition, Bielefeldt said he "unambiguously welcomed" the report and reiterated with regard to "
freedom of religion or belief" that it is "only a kind of short-hand", and "Formulations such as "religious freedom" obfuscate the scope of this human right which covers the identity-shaping, profound convictions and conviction-based practices of human beings broadly."
The report was the subject of a question in the
UK Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...
in 2013, to which
David Lidington
Sir David Roy Lidington (born 30 June 1956) is a British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aylesbury from 1992 until 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister fo ...
MP responded for the government asserting, "Our freedom of religion or belief policy is consistent with the key message of the International Humanist and Ethical Union's (IHEU) report: that international human rights law exists to protect the rights of individuals to manifest their beliefs, not to protect the beliefs themselves. The report records a sharp increase in the number of prosecutions for alleged criticism of religion by atheists on social media. Protecting freedom of expression online is a priority for the British Government and we have consistently argued against attempts to create a new international standard in order to protect religions from criticism."
Focus of advocacy and campaigns
Recurring themes of Humanists International's advocacy and campaigns work include
LGBTI rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , ...
and
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
,
sexual and reproductive health and rights
Sexual and reproductive health and rights or ''SRHR'' is the concept of human rights applied to sexuality and reproduction. It is a combination of four fields that in some contexts are more or less distinct from each other, but less so or not at ...
, laws against
blasphemy
Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...
and
apostasy
Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that i ...
,
caste
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
-based discrimination,
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, and advocacy of
secularism
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations.
Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...
.
Persecuted non-religious individuals
Individuals persecuted for expressing their non-religious views (actual or perceived) have frequently been the subject of IHEU campaigns. Some prominent cases include:
* In the 1990s IHEU was instrumental in highlighting the threats against
Taslima Nasrin
Taslima Nasrin (born 25 August 1962) is a Bangladeshi-Swedish writer, physician, feminist, secular humanist, and activist. She is known for her writing on women's oppression and criticism of religion. Some of her books are banned in Bangladesh ...
who lives in exile from
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, and who also acted as a representative of the IHEU at
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
.
* The IHEU and
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
led the campaign in 2004 to try to obtain the release of
Younus Shaikh
Mohammed Younus Shaikh ( Punjabi, ur, , born 30 May 1952) is a Pakistani medical doctor, human rights activist and freethinker.
When he was a teacher at a medical college in Islamabad, Shaikh was an active member of the South Asia Peace Move ...
who was accused of "
blasphemy
Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...
" in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
.
* In 2013 the IHEU urged the authorities in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
to ensure the safety of
Alber Saber after he was accused of "offending religion" for allegedly linking to the
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
video "
Innocence of Muslims
''Innocence of Muslims'' is an anti-Islamic short film that was written and produced by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. Two versions of the 14-minute video were uploaded to YouTube in July 2012, under the titles "The Real Life of Muhammad" and "Muham ...
".
* In 2014 the IHEU blew the whistle on the case of
Mubarak Bala from
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, who was detained in a psychiatric hospital after he talked openly about being an atheist. He was freed following international media coverage.
* In 2017, after a government minister in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
said members of an atheist meetup group would be "hunted down", the IHEU called for respect of the atheists' human rights, and the organization's condemnation of the minister's remarks was reported in Malaysian media.
The IHEU delegation at the
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...
has repeatedly raised the imprisonment and corporal punishment of
Raif Badawi
Raif bin Muhammad Badawi ( ar, رائف بن محمد بدوي, also transcribed Raef bin Mohammed Badawi; born 13 January 1984) is a Saudi writer, dissident and activist, as well as the creator of the website ''Free Saudi Liberals''.
Badawi wa ...
for "insulting religion", and
Waleed Abulkhair for "disrespecting the authorities", both in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
.
Humanists International similarly highlights cases where individuals are accused of "
apostasy
Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that i ...
", such as the blogger
Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir
Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir (Arabic: محمد الشيخ ولد امخيطير ) is a Mauritanian blogger who was a political prisoner from 2014 to 2019. He was sentenced to death after he wrote an article critical of Islam and the caste system ...
currently on death row in
Mauritania
Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
, and the poet
Ashraf Fayadh
Ashraf Fayadh ( ar, أشرف فياض, born 1980 in Saudi Arabia) is an artist and poet of Palestinian origin. He is the son of refugees from Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip and lives in Saudi Arabia. He was active in the British-Arabian arts organiza ...
currently imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. In June 2016 at the 32nd session of the
Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...
the IHEU's delegate took the unusual step of reading one of Ashraf Fayadh's poems during General Debate.
Bangladesh machete murders
Humanists International complained that fundamentalists linked to the government were "terrorising" secular activists, including individuals in connection with its Member Organisations, as far back as 2006. However,
a series of machete attacks primarily targeting secular and atheist bloggers and freethinkers in Bangladesh has been especially severe since 2013, and the IHEU has campaigned persistently in response and highlighted the murders at the UN Human Rights Council.
Humanists International responded in 2013 to the murder of blogger and activist
Ahmed Rajib Haider and the machete attack on his friend
Asif Mohiuddin
Asif Mohiuddin (born 24 February 1984) is a Bangladeshi anti-islamic and secular activist, religious critic and feminist. In 2012, he won The Bobs-Best of Online Activism award from Deutsche Welle, who stated that "Asif's blog was one of t ...
, and highlighted the subsequent arrest and imprisonment of Mohiuddin and others for "hurting religious sentiments".
When author and prominent leader of the Bengali freethought movement
Avijit Roy
Avijit Roy ( bn, অভিজিৎ রায়; 12 September 1972 – 26 February 2015) was a Bangladeshi-American engineer, online activist, writer and blogger known for creating and administrating the '' Mukto-Mona'', an Internet community ...
was murdered, 26 February 2015, Humanists International revealed that he had been advising them on the situation in Bangladesh; Humanists International Director of Communications commented, "This loss is keenly felt by freethinkers and humanists in South Asia and around the world. He was a colleague in humanism and a friend to all who respect human rights, freedom, and the light of reason."
Following the murder of
Washiqur Rahman Babu (or Oyasiqur Rhaman), 30 March 2015, Humanists International republished some of his final writings.
Following the murder of
Ananta Bijoy Das, 12 May 2016, Humanists International leaked parts of the letter Bijoy Das had recently received from
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
rejecting his visa application, despite his having been invited to the country by Swedish
PEN
A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...
. The organisation highlighted "the failures of the Bangladeshi authorities to bring to justice the individuals and to break the networks behind this string of targeted killings", and also criticised Sweden's rejection of his visa application, commenting, "We call on all countries to recognise the legitimacy and sometimes the urgency and moral necessity of asylum claims made by humanists, atheists and secularists who are being persecuted for daring to express those views."
Following the murder of
Niladri Chattopadhyay Niloy (or Niloy Chatterjee, also known by his pen name Niloy Neel), 7 August 2015, Humanists International again attacked the government and authorities, saying, "Apparent failure to pursue the most obvious lines of inquiry even when initial arrests are made, and
media manipulation
Media manipulation is a series of related techniques in which partisans create an image or argument that favors their particular interests. Such tactics may include the use of logical fallacies, manipulation, outright deception (disinformation) ...
resulting in conflicting stories, further makes reportage difficult and police operations opaque."
A coordinated attack against two separate publishing houses in
Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
, 31 October 2016, killed the publisher
Faisal Arefin Dipon and seriously injured the publisher
Ahmedur Rashid Chowdhury. The IHEU later published an interview with Chowdhury about the attack and his escape to
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
.
In August 2015 Humanists International coordinated a joint open letter in English and Bangla by a coalition of "Bloggers, free speech campaigners, humanist associations, religious and ex-Muslim groups"
calling on the president and prime minister of Bangladesh to "ensure the safety and security of those individuals whose lives are threatened by Islamist extremists... instruct the police to find the killers, not to harass or blame the victims... disassociate yourself publicly from those who call for death penalties against non-religious Bangladeshis..." and repeal the laws under which secular bloggers faced arrest and imprisonment.
Following the murder of a student and secular activist
Nazimuddin Samad, 6 April 2016, and then the murder of university lecturer Professor
Rezaul Karim Siddique, 23 April 2016, Humanists International president Andrew Copson said "Unless the government
f Bangladeshimmediately begins to defend the right to speak and write freely, without adding the unprincipled and anti-secular qualifications that it keeps applying to freedom of expression, then very soon the only voices that will be heard will be those of murderous extremists."
Humanists International, along with its Member Organisation the
Dutch Humanist Association, and
Hague Peace Projects, organised a "solidarity book fair" in The Hague, 26 February 2016, to coincide with the annual
Ekushey Book Fair
The Ekushey Book Fair ( bn, একুশে বই মেলা, Ekuśe Bôi Mela), officially called Amar Ekushey Grantha Mela ( bn, অমর একুশে গ্রন্থ মেলা, lit='Immortal Book Fair of the Twenty-first f February ...
in Dhaka.
The range of targets for these attacks began to broaden in the later part of 2015 and throughout 2016 to more often include minority religious individuals and foreigners, culminating in the
July 2016 Dhaka attack
On the night of 1 July 2016, at 21:20 local time, five militants took hostages and opened fire on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan Thana. The assailants entered the bakery with crude bombs, machetes, pistols, and took several dozen hostages ...
in
Gulshan Thana
Gulshan ( bn, গুলশান) is a thana situated in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is an affluent residential and business neighbourhood; and is now home to a number of the city's restaurants, shopping centres, schools, banks, members' clubs and ho ...
.
End Blasphemy Laws campaign
In January 2015, in part as a response to the
Charlie Hebdo shooting
On 7 January 2015, at about 11:30 a.m. CET local time, two French Muslim terrorists and brothers, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, forced their way into the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper '' Charlie Hebdo'' in Paris. Armed with ...
, Humanists International alongside other transnational secular groups the
European Humanist Federation
The European Humanist Federation (EHF, french: Fédération Humaniste Européenne, FHE), officially abbreviated as EHF-FHE, is an umbrella of more than 60 humanist and secularist organisations from 25 European countries.
Founded in Prague in July ...
and
Atheist Alliance International
Atheist Alliance International (AAI) is a non-profit advocacy organization committed to raising awareness and educating the public about atheism. It does this by supporting atheist and freethought organizations around the world through promotin ...
and a two-hundred strong organisational coalition, founded the End Blasphemy Laws Campaign. End Blasphemy Laws is "campaigning to repeal "blasphemy" and related laws worldwide."
Other campaigns
The "First World Conference on Untouchability" was organised by Humanists International in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, June 2009.
Anticipating the event, the
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
quoted then-Executive Director
Babu Gogineni as saying that legal reforms alone would not end caste discrimination: "There are Dalit politicians in India, but nothing has changed. The answer is to educate Dalits and empower them." The event was preceded by questions in the
UK Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...
and guests included
Lord Desai and
Lord Avebury from the UK
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
;
Binod Pahadi, Member of the
Constituent Assembly, Nepal; and Tina Ramirez, US Congressional Fellow on International Religious Freedom.
The Second World Conference on Untouchability was held in
Kathmandu
, pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia
, coordinates =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name =
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...
, in April 2014.
In 2013 Humanists International criticised the US-based
Appeal of Conscience Foundation
Founded by Rabbi Arthur Schneier in 1965, the Appeal of Conscience Foundation is an interfaith partnership of corporate and spiritual leaders from all faiths who come together to promote "peace, tolerance and ethnic conflict resolution."
Mission
T ...
for awarding their "World Statesman Award" to then-president of
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born 9 September 1949), commonly referred to by his initials SBY, is an Indonesian politician and retired army general who served as the sixth president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party ...
; it argued that the award "is a slap in the face to prisoners of conscience across the world. While
Alexander Aan suffers in an Indonesian jail for posting his beliefs to Facebook, his jailer will be honored in New York as a champion of freedom of belief."
In 2014 Humanists International as part of a "coalition of secular groups" led a campaign around the hashtag "#TwitterTheocracy" to protest the social media website
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
's implementation of tools blocking "blasphemous" tweets in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
.
Historical dates and figures
Chairs and presidents
Awards
The IHEU makes a number of regular and occasional special awards.
International Humanist Award
The International Humanist Award recognises outstanding achievements and contributions to the progress and defence of Humanism.
*1970:
Barry Commoner
Barry Commoner (May 28, 1917 – September 30, 2012) was an American cellular biologist, college professor, and politician. He was a leading ecologist and among the founders of the modern environmental movement. He was the director of the ...
(United States of America), environmentalist professor
*1974:
Harold John Blackham
Harold John Blackham (31 March 1903 – 23 January 2009) was a leading British humanist philosopher, writer and educationalist. He has been described as the "progenitor of modern humanism in Britain".
Biography
Blackham was born in West Br ...
(UK), founding member IHEU, IHEU secretary (1952–1966)
*1978:
Vithal Mahadeo Tarkunde (India), former judge of the
Bombay High Court
The High Court of Bombay is the high court of the states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily at Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), and is one of the ol ...
*1982: Kurt Partzsch (Germany), former Minister for Social Affairs in Lower Saxony (Germany)
*1986: Arnold Clausse (Belgium), professor emeritus of education
*1986: The
Atheist Centre (India), for pioneering social reform activities
*1988:
Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov ( rus, Андрей Дмитриевич Сахаров, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ˈdmʲitrʲɪjevʲɪtɕ ˈsaxərəf; 21 May 192114 December 1989) was a Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident, nobel laureate and activist for nu ...
(USSR), nuclear physicist, developer of the hydrogen bomb for the Soviet military, and winner of the
Nobel Prize for Peace
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...
*1990:
Alexander Dubček
Alexander Dubček (; 27 November 1921 – 7 November 1992) was a Slovak politician who served as the First Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) (''de facto'' leader of Czechoslovak ...
(Czechoslovakia), leader of Czechoslovakia during the "Prague Spring" of 1968
*1992: Pieter Admiraal (Netherlands), a Dutch anaesthetist, and
euthanasia
Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different eut ...
advocate
*1999: Professor
Paul Kurtz
Paul Kurtz (December 21, 1925 – October 20, 2012) was an American scientific skeptic and Secular humanism, secular humanist. He has been called "the father of secular humanism". He was Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University at Buff ...
(USA), writer and founder of the
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
*2002:
Amartya Sen
Amartya Kumar Sen (; born 3 November 1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher, who since 1972 has taught and worked in the United Kingdom and the United States. Sen has made contributions to welfare economics, social choice theory, econom ...
(India), economist, social theorist, Master of Trinity College (Cambridge), and winner of the 1998
*2005:
Jean-Claude Pecker
Jean-Claude Pecker (10 May 1923 – 20 February 2020) was a French astronomer, astrophysicist and author, member of the French Academy of Sciences and director of the Nice Observatory. He served as the secretary-general of the International As ...
(France), astronomer
*2008:
Philip Pullman
Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy ''His Dark Materials'' and ''The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ'', a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, ''The ...
(UK), best-selling author of children's literature, including ''His Dark Materials'' trilogy
*2011:
Sophie in 't Veld
Sophia Helena "Sophie" in 't Veld (born 13 September 1963) is a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 party. She was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2004, and reelected in 2009, 2014 and 2019. She was her party's top candidate fo ...
, (Netherlands) MEP and vice-chair of the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, and
PZ Myers
Paul Zachary Myers (born March 9, 1957) is an American biologist who founded and writes the ''Pharyngula'' science-blog. He is associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) (USA), biology professor at
University of Minnesota Morris
The University of Minnesota Morris (UMN Morris) is a public liberal arts college in Morris, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and was founded in 1960 as a public, co-educational, residential liberal arts college offering ...
, and author of the
''Pharyngula'' blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
*2014:
Gulalai Ismail
Gulalai Ismail ( ps, ; ur, گلالئی اسماعیل) is a Pashtun human rights activist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. She is the chairperson of Aware Girls, a global ambassador for Humanists International, and a leading member of the ...
(Pakistan), the founder and chair of
Aware Girls, a charity which promotes the developmental and human rights of young women in Pakistan and
Wole Soyinka
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...
(Nigeria), Nobel Prize-winning author
Distinguished Service to Humanism Award
The Distinguished Service to Humanism Award recognises the contributions of Humanist activists to International Humanism and to organised Humanism.
*1988:
Corliss Lamont
Corliss Lamont (March 28, 1902 – April 26, 1995) was an American socialist and humanist philosopher and advocate of various left-wing and civil liberties causes. As a part of his political activities, he was the Chairman of National Council ...
(United States of America); Indumati Parikh (India);
Mathilde Krim
Mathilde Krim ( he, מתילדה קרים; née Galland; July 9, 1926 – January 15, 2018) was a medical researcher and the founding chairman of amfAR, American Foundation for AIDS Research.
Biography
Mathilde Galland was born in Como, Italy t ...
(United States)
*1990: Jean Jacques Amy (Belgium)
*1992: Indumati Parikh (India);
Vern Bullough
Vern Leroy Bullough (July 24, 1928 – June 21, 2006) was an American historian and sexologist.
He was a distinguished professor emeritus at the State University of New York ( SUNY) at Buffalo, Faculty President at California State University, No ...
(USA); Nettie Klein, also volunteer IHEU secretary general (1982–1996)
*1996:
Jim Herrick
Jim Herrick (born 1944) is a British humanist and secularist. He studied history and English literature at Trinity College, Cambridge University, and then worked as a school teacher for seven years. He has written or edited several books on hu ...
(UK); James Dilloway
*1999: Abe Solomon; Paul Postma
*2002: Phil Ward
*2005:
(UK); Marius Dées de Stério
*2007:
Keith Porteous Wood
Keith Porteous Wood (born November 1947) is the president of the National Secular Society in the United Kingdom. From 1996 until November 2017 he held the paid position of general secretary which was later re-titled executive director.
In 2007, ...
(UK)
*2008:
Roy W Brown
Roy W. Brown is a British-born engineer, humanist and human rights activist. He was president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) from 2003 to 2006 and was for a time its main representative at the United Nations, Geneva.
E ...
(UK)
*2011: V B Rawat (India);
Narendra Nayak
Narendra Nayak (born 5 February 1951) is a rationalist, sceptic, and godman debunker from Mangalore, Karnataka, India.Nayak is the current president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA). He founded the Dakshina Kannada ...
(India);
David Pollock (UK)
*2012: Margaretha Jones (United States of America)
*2013: Josh Kutchinsky (UK)
*2014: Robbi Robson (UK)
*2015: Hope Knutsson (Iceland)
*2016: Sonja Eggerickx (Belgium)
*2017:
Leo Igwe
Leo Igwe (born 26 July 1970) is a Nigerian human rights advocate and humanist. Igwe is a former Western and Southern African representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, and has specialized in campaigning against and documenti ...
(Nigeria)
*2020: Becky Hale (USA); Bert Gasenbeek (Netherlands); Dr. Sudesh Ghoderao (India)
Other Awards
*1978: Special Award for Service to World Humanism:
Harold John Blackham
Harold John Blackham (31 March 1903 – 23 January 2009) was a leading British humanist philosopher, writer and educationalist. He has been described as the "progenitor of modern humanism in Britain".
Biography
Blackham was born in West Br ...
; Jaap van Praag; Sidney Scheuer (also IHEU treasurer, 1952–1987)
*1988: Humanist Laureate Award:
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book ''The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...
;
Herbert Hauptman
Herbert Aaron Hauptman (February 14, 1917 – October 23, 2011) was an American mathematician and Nobel laureate. He pioneered and developed a mathematical method that has changed the whole field of chemistry and opened a new era in research in d ...
;
Steve Allen
Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...
*1988: Humanist of the Year Award:
Henry Morgentaler
Henekh "Henry" Morgentaler, (March 19, 1923 – May 29, 2013), was a Polish-born Canadian physician and abortion rights advocate who fought numerous legal battles aimed at expanding abortion rights in Canada. As a Jewish youth during World War ...
*1992: Distinguished Human Rights Award:
Elena Bonner
Yelena Georgiyevna Bonner (russian: link=no, Елена Георгиевна Боннэр; 15 February 1923 – 18 June 2011)[ ...](_blank)
*1996: Humanist Awards: Shulamit Aloni;
Taslima Nasrin
Taslima Nasrin (born 25 August 1962) is a Bangladeshi-Swedish writer, physician, feminist, secular humanist, and activist. She is known for her writing on women's oppression and criticism of religion. Some of her books are banned in Bangladesh ...
; Xiao Xuehui
*2008: Lifetime Achievement Award:
Levi Fragell
Levi Fragell (born 30 March 1939) is a Norwegian humanist. He has been chairman and secretary of the Norwegian Humanist Association, and was President of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) between 1987–1990 (as one member of ...
(Norway)
*2017: Distinguished Services to Anti-Superstition Award:
Narendra Dhabolkar (India)
See also
*
World Humanist Congress
Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union, or IHEU, from 1952–2019) is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Found ...
*
World Humanist Day
World Humanist Day is a Humanist holiday celebrated annually around the world on the June solstice, which usually falls on June 21. According to Humanists International, the day is a way of spreading awareness of Humanism as a philosophical life ...
References
External links
*
Freedom of Thought Report websiteEnd Blasphemy Laws campaign website
{{Authority control
Antireligion
Atheist organizations
Ethical movement
Ethics organizations
Freethought organizations
Humanist associations
International organisations based in London
Organisations based in the London Borough of Lambeth
Organizations established in 1952
Secular humanism
Secularist organizations
Skeptic organisations in the United Kingdom
1952 establishments in the Netherlands