USCIRF Condemns Mubarak Bala Prison Sentence, Calls for U.S. Government Response

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today condemned the Kano State High Court’s decision to sentence humanist leader Mubarak Bala to 24 years in prison for peacefully expressing his beliefs, which the Nigerian government considers blasphemous.

“USCIRF is outraged that Nigerian authorities sentenced humanist leader Mubarak Bala to 24 years in prison on blasphemy charges,” said USCIRF Commissioner Frederick A. Davie, who advocates for Bala through USCIRF’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience project. “Mubarak Bala should not have been charged or convicted in the first place for simply expressing his freedom of belief and expression.”

In April 2020, Nigerian authorities arrested Bala, President of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, and held him without charge for over a year in defiance of a federal court order. Last summer, the Kano State High Court charged him with 18 counts of creating a public disturbance by posting blasphemous content on social media. Today, Bala pled guilty following two years of harsh detention during which he experienced health problems and numerous violations of his due process rights.

“USCIRF encourages the U.S. government to engage urgently with Nigerian counterparts to protect Bala from this severe sentence, which is a clear violation of his right to freedom of belief as defined under international law,” said USCIRF Commissioner Tony Perkins. “The U.S. government should amplify that we value freedom of religion or belief abroad, oppose blasphemy laws, and hold partner governments responsible for violating the right to religious freedom.”

In its 2021 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State redesignate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of international religious freedom. USCIRF catalogued these violations in its reporting on Nigeria, including in an Issue Update on Kano State, an episode of the USCIRF Spotlight podcast, and during a hearing held in June. The State Department removed Nigeria’s CPC designation in November 2021, a decision that USCIRF found inexplicable.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion or belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].

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