Freedom of Thought, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Conscience
Secular Rescue is a Center for Inquiry program that’s specifically designed to assist those who face threats due to their beliefs or expressions regarding religion. Despite what many people and governments would have us believe, the right to freedom of expression, including the right to blaspheme, is protected as universal by several important international documents and agreements:
The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. The Declaration (General Assembly resolution 217 A) was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948, as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out fundamental human rights to be universally protected, and it has been translated into over 500 languages: https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html
In recognition of Human Rights Day, our colleagues at Humanists International release the Freedom of Thought Report yearly. The report details laws around the world that serve to restrict the rights to freedom of belief and expression and instances of nonreligious persons facing discrimination and persecution. The report is produced with support from a number of secularist, humanist, and atheist organizations, including the Center for Inquiry: https://fot.humanists.international/
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan U.S. government commission created by the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). It monitors the universal right to freedom of religion or belief, assesses the U.S. government’s implementation of IRFA, and documents country-specific conditions in twenty-eight countries. Its Annual Report focuses on significant trends and recommends U.S. policies: https://www.uscirf.gov/annual-reports
The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) believes that the American character is based on fundamental values that embrace newcomers with equal rights and equal opportunity. Its mission is to protect the rights and address the needs of persons in forced or voluntary migration worldwide and support their transition to a dignified life. Working with its partners, the USCRI provides critical services to refugees and immigrants to help them become self-reliant and contributing members of their communities: https://refugees.org/
Human Rights First (HRF) has been a clarion voice in defense of human dignity and the freedom of people everywhere. HRF a nonprofit, nonpartisan, international human rights organization based in New York, Washington D.C., Houston, and Los Angeles. It is an independent advocacy and action organization that assists those who have fled dangerous situations in their home countries to obtain asylum in the United States; it challenges the U.S. to live up to its ideals by pressing government and private companies to respect human rights and the rule of law, working where it can best harness American influence to secure core freedoms: https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/
The Human Rights Watch’s World Report is their annual review of human rights practices from around the world. The 652-page volume reviews human rights practices and trends in nearly 100 countries: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020
The Immigrant Defense Project (IDP) fights for fairness and justice for all immigrants caught at the intersection of the racially biased U.S. criminal and immigration systems. IDP fights to end the current era of unprecedented mass criminalization, detention, and deportation through a multi-pronged strategy including advocacy, litigation, legal advice and training, community defense, grassroots alliances, and strategic communications. The IDP engages in targeted litigation in support of challenges to deportations and other adverse immigration consequences based on criminal convictions and arrests. It also seeks to create good law through the judiciary to help immigrants remain in the United States with their communities and families: https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/
The International Coalition against Blasphemy Laws brings together individuals and organizations that share the same goal: campaigning to repeal “blasphemy” and related laws worldwide. The Coalition operates the End Blasphemy Laws Campaign, which provides arguments against blasphemy laws and updates on blasphemy law repeals and prosecutions: https://end-blasphemy-laws.org/
Upwardly Global (UG) supports immigrants and refugees who contribute their vital skills to the professional U.S. workforce. It helps job seekers who are internationally trained immigrants and refugees to launch their professional careers in the United States, providing training to more than 18,000 job seekers to date, with support to nearly 7,500 in finding jobs in their fields. UG has prepared and supported thousands of immigrants and refugees and helped them attain mid- and high-skill jobs in the USA. UG trains recent immigrants and refugees to adapt their education, skills, and professional careers abroad into the US workforce; it partners with employers to help them leverage this talent pool and to create more inclusive hiring practices and workplaces; it collaborates with individuals and organizations to help newcomers succeed in their workplaces and communities: https://www.upwardlyglobal.org/
