Press Releases

September 29, 2020		September 30 #BlasphemyDay Dear Friend Woman’s Quran On 30 September, #BlasphemyDay, we publish The Woman’s Quran (114 Pages for 114 Surahs). It is blank because religion is an offence against women and because the Quran, Islam and Islamism are the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of women’s emancipation. – Maryam Namazie (A reference to US Suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s “The Bible and the Church have been the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of women’s emancipation”.) #BlasphemerAtHeart On 30 September, feel free to fill the pages of The Woman’s Quran with blasphemy. You can draw hearts with blasphemous messages on its pages,... Filed as: Press Releases
September 29, 2020		The Woman’s Quran: Blank because religion is an affront to women’s rights On 30 September, #BlasphemyDay, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) publishes The Woman’s Quran (114 Pages for 114 Surahs). It is blank because all religions degrade women and because the Quran, Islam and Islamism are the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of women’s emancipation. (*A reference to US Suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s “The Bible and the Church have been the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of women’s emancipation”.) You can download it here and fill it with your hopes, dreams and blasphemies: A6 Quran final artwork complete book for online 114 pages. On this day, feel free to... Filed as: Featured, Homepage, Press Releases
September 16, 2020		In Support of Charlie Hebdo: We’re Not Offended Today’s issue of Charlie Hebdo with (mostly) #exMuslims, thanks to Inna Shevchenko. Caricatures de Mahomet : Paroles de musulmans non offensés, Charlie Hebdo, 16 September 2020 Translation of my contribution: “A progressive, satirical anti-clerical tradition such as that of Charlie Hebdo’s is not the sole domain of the West. When Charlie Hebdo draws Mohammed, it gives those of us battling apostasy and blasphemy laws in today’s Islamic states much needed support and strength. Having paid the highest of prices, Charlie Hebdo continues to remind the world that criticism of Islam and the sacred is a right, that silence and censorship... Filed as: Media Coverage, Press Releases
September 15, 2020		Ban Islamic Republic of Iran from International Arena and Sports for Navid JOIN CALL TO BAN ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN FROM INTERNATIONAL ARENA AND SPORTS FOR NAVID! INITIAL SIGNATORIES AND FARSI, ARABIC, FRENCH, GERMAN, TAMIL, TURKISH, SWEDISH TRANSLATIONS BELOW Navid Afkari, a young Iranian wrestler was executed by the Islamic regime in Iran on 12 September 2020 despite widespread local and international pressure. He was executed on trumped up murder charges because of his involvement in anti-government protests in 2018. Many other young people have been given long-term prison sentences or are on death row for participating in the protests. In a taped message before his execution, Afkari said he had been... Filed as: Press Releases
September 14, 2020		Global: In support of Nigerian civil society initiatives against death penalty and blasphemy laws Over spring and summer 2020, three cases drew attention to Nigeria’s blasphemy law under which the Sharia Court (religious court) pronounced death sentences in the state of Kano: In April, Mubarak Bala, President of the Humanist Association of Nigeria was arrested in his residence in Kaduna and brought to Kano by the Kano police; there he was tried in the Sharia Court (religious court) and sentenced to death for blasphemy. Prior to his arrest, he had received death threats from Muslim fundamentalists. Bala had no access to a defence lawyer. In August, Yahaya Aminu Sharif, a 22 year old singer... Filed as: Press Releases
August 20, 2020		22 August 2020 – First International Apostasy Day was a Huge Success Arabic, Bangla, Dhivehi, Dutch, Farsi, French, German, Malay, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish and Urdu translations below. On 22nd August, thousands participated in Apostasy Day, including by taking selfies with the hashtag #HandsUpforApostasyDay #ApostasyDay #ApostasyNotACrime. Overall, 83,000 people engaged in the day reaching 233,000 people. More than 5,000 also signed a petition supporting Apostasy Day, which was established by an international coalition of ex-Muslim organisations. We call on the public to continue to join our call for the recognition of Apostasy Day... Filed as: Press Releases
August 20, 2020		Join #HandsUpForApostasyDay Victoria Gugenheim is extremely excited to be the creator of the #HandsUpForApostasyDay social media campaign, as part of #ApostasyDay, established by an International Coalition of Ex-Muslims, the first of which is happening on the 22nd August. You can join in this campaign if you are an apostate or support the right to apostasy by adding a self portrait to the great and powerful interwebs, and use the hashtag #HandsUpForApostasyDay #ApostasyDay #ApostasyNotAcrime with an A or Apostate in English or Apostate in your own language written on your hand or face and post it on 22 August. Victoria says: “Those fleeing religious... Filed as: Press Releases
August 9, 2020		Free Nigerian free-thinker Mubarak Bala Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain strongly condemns the arrest and continued detention of Mubarak Bala, President of the Humanist Association of Nigeria. Mr. Bala led campaigns to promote freedom of religion and belief. He was arrested in the Nigerian state of Kano on 28 April 2020 following a petition alleging he had insulted Muhammad, Islam’s prophet, in Facebook posts. He has been held all this time without charge and been denied access to legal representation. Mr. Bala is at serious risk of death as is evidenced by the numerous threats against his person and life. Moreover, blasphemy is punishable by... Filed as: Press Releases
July 9, 2020		Iran: Stop execution of Amirhossein Moradi, Mohammad Rajabi and Saeed Tamjidi Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) unequivocally condemns the Islamic regime of Iran’s ongoing attacks on protesters and activists, most recently manifested in the sentencing to death of Amirhossein Moradi, Mohammad Rajabi and Saeed Tamjidi. Moradi, Rajabi and Tamjidi were supposedly involved in legitimate protests against the regime that took place last year and have been charged with “enmity against God,” amongst other bogus charges. All three were denied access to lawyers and ‘confessions’ were acquired under torture. CEMB also condemns the Turkish government for deporting Rajabi and Tamjidi, who were refugees, to face the persecution they had fled from.... Filed as: Press Releases
July 1, 2020		Conflating face masks with burqas is an an act of cultural assassination Conflating face masks with burqas is an an act of cultural assassination, sister-hood, 1 July 2020 By Marieme Helie Lucas and Maryam Namazie Some people, including Human Rights Watch’s Director Ken Roth and politicians like Rabina Khan have taken the opportunity of a global pandemic to defend the burqa/niqab by comparing it with mandatory face mask rulings used in the fight against Covid-19. Immediately after Ken Roth’s tweet implicitly supporting the ‘right to veil’ of women (only), women who had fought the imposition of the compulsory burqa in their own countries issued a strong protest. They pointed to the fact that Ken Roth... Filed as: Media Coverage, Press Releases