Campaign to abolish blasphemy laws in northern ireland
Around the world, blasphemy laws are used to harass, victimise, and discriminate against people from religion or belief minorities. They directly impede people’s right to freedom of thought, conscience, and belief.
That’s why we’re campaigning for Northern Ireland to catch-up with the rest of the UK, and repeal its blasphemy laws.
Blasphemy laws violate human rights
The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief, Ahmed Shaheed, has recommended the repeal of blasphemy laws globally, because maintaining such laws is a violation of human rights and legitimises the violent persecution of religious minorities and the non-religious in totalitarian regimes.
‘It is appalling that we still have blasphemy laws in Northern Ireland — these laws are used by some of the world’s most horrific regimes to justify the killings of people for exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression.’
We’ve been taking down blasphemy laws around the UK
Humanists UK helped secure strong protections as part of the bill when the UK Government repealed blasphemy laws in England and Wales in 2008. In Scotland, we supported our sister charity Humanist Society Scotland in successfully campaigning to overturn repeal blasphemy in 2021.
In 2019, our Northern Ireland Humanists section launched our official campaign to repeal the law in Northern Ireland. The campaign’s popularity has led to many of the major parties committing to repeal, with only the DUP leadership still opposed.
Help us fight for freedom of expression in Northern Ireland
In-depth policy briefing on blasphemy laws
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