Friend,

If you don’t know about Mubarak Bala, you should.

President of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, Bala was forcibly arrested and taken from his home on April 28, and then taken to the neighboring state of Kano, where blasphemy is considered a capital offense.  Three weeks later, he still hasn’t been formally charged with a crime, and questions regarding his whereabouts and wellbeing remain unanswered.

This isn’t the first injustice that Bala has faced. In 2014 he was forcibly institutionalized for renouncing Islam, and from that point forward has been regularly subjected to harassment and death threats.

What has he done to deserve this treatment? Something we as Americans largely take for granted: Bala regularly posted on Facebook criticizing Islam and religion in general.

The way Bala has been treated isn’t just unacceptable, in his case, it may be life threatening. His peers in Nigeria are concerned he could be tried under Sharia law, which could lead to capital punishment.

In support of Bala, the Secular Coalition for America, led by our member organization American Humanist Association, wrote to the State Department and other government officials. Together, we have urged the government to pressure Nigerian authorities to clarify Mr. Bala’s health and safety, access to counsel, and the charges he faces.

Our work and that of many others has prompted the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to publicly condemn Bala’s arrest. Still, despite those calls to action and others from secular and humanist communities across the globe, Bala still has not had access to his legal team and his whereabouts are still unclear.

Unfortunately, the challenges faced by Mabarak Bala are faced by millions of secular, humanist, atheist, and other nonbelieving people around the world on a daily basis.

The Secular Coalition for America and our member organizations continue to fight on their behalf, including through our recent support of H.Res. 512, which calls for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, and our work with the Congressional Freethought Caucus to promote religious freedom on social media platforms.

If you want to speak out on Mubarak Bala, you can learn more at FreeMubarakBala.org. And, if you believe in the fight for religious freedom at home and abroad, please consider supporting the Secular Coalition for America. Supporters like you make this critical work possible.

Sincerely,

Casey Brinck
Director of Policy & Government Affairs
Secular Coalition for America