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CSW - everyone free to believe

Report launch - No Place to call home

29 Apr 2008

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is pleased to be launching a new report entitled No Place to Call Home on Tuesday 29 April. The launch event will be hosted by Andrew Selous MP and chaired by Lord Anderson of Swansea.

The report is the culmination of a special investigation by Christian Solidarity Worldwide into the human rights abuses suffered by apostates from Islam. It identifies that while the application of the death penalty for apostasy is rare, apostates face gross and wide ranging human rights abuses at the hands of the state, their communities and their families.

No Place to Call Home draws on interviews with twenty-eight apostates in Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Nigeria, Turkey and the United Kingdom. It combines the findings of this research with an analysis of relevant Islamic theology and jurisprudence, contemporary Islamic thought and international law. The report aims to inform a public debate on apostasy and the responsibility of states and the international community to protect these people. Speakers at the launch event, entitled Human rights in the Muslim world and freedom of conscience in the UK and beyond, will include:

  • Dr Usama Hassan: Dr Hassan regularly comments on Islam for British and global media, and speaks at university campuses and community events. He is a senior lecturer at Middlesex University and a part-time Imam at Masjid at-Tawhid in Leytonstone, London.
  • Dr Sylvie Langlaude:  Dr Langlaude is Lecturer in Law at the University of East London. She is the author of The Right of the Child to Religious Freedom in International Law.
  • Ziya Meral: Mr Meral is the author of the report, No Place to Call Home. He is a published commentator on Turkish and Middle Eastern politics and society, human rights and comparative literature.
  • Nissar Hussein: Mr Hussein is a Muslim apostate who was born and raised in the United Kingdom. He and his wife converted from Islam to Christianity in 1996. Following his conversion he has been subjected to various forms of ostracism and physical attacks on his family and property.

Commenting ahead of the launch, the author of the report, Ziya Meral, said: "It has been a challenging and humbling experience to write this report. As an apostate, the issue is not new for me. Thus far, debates on apostasy have focused on Islamic theology and whether or not the death penalty was prescribed by the Prophet Muhammad. Although the death penalty is rarely applied to apostates, these people live under the serious threat of gross and wide ranging human rights violations. This report is not about Islam, nor is it written to be used as a critical attack on Islam. It is designed to highlight the immense suffering of these individuals and analyses all of the factors contributing to their persecution. Throughout this report a tragic picture emerges of the intimate hurts of apostates, which can only renew the conviction that governments must resolutely address this often overlooked human rights concern."

To download a copy of the report, please click here

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We believe no one should suffer discrimination, harassment or persecution because of their beliefs