A bid for freedom of conscience at the UN. You will be able to read documents related to this initiative in my forthcoming essay collection The Myth of Islamic Tolerance. From Reuters, with thanks to David G. Littman:
GENEVA, July 28 (Reuters) Religious rights campaigners, buoyed by a UN call for an end to repression of minorities by majority religions, today urged the world body to tackle persecution of ”apostates” in Muslim countries.
The move came as humanist groups hailed the UN’s 2004 Human Development Report for declaring that ”individuals must be free not only to criticise the religion into which they are born, but to reject it for another or to remain without one.” The campaigners’ appeal — in the form of a petition signed by nearly 90,000 people in 32 countries, including present and former Muslims — was delivered to new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour.
It said Muslim religious leaders and organisations should make a clear public call for reinterpretation of Islamic law ”so that Muslims who change their faith will not have to face intimidation, harassment, persecution or death as a result.” The petition, launched by British-based Christian group The Barnabas Fund, called on the U.N. Human Rights Commission, governments and international bodies to speak out on the issue and raise it ”as a matter of urgency” with Muslim groupings.
Fund advocacy manager Paul Cook — who welcomed the UN report’s ”very encouraging affirmation” of the right to apostasy — said his group’s efforts to get dialogue going with Muslim bodies on the problem had so far met with silence.