Free to Choose

Jubilee Campaign, alongside Christian Freedom International, Set My People Free, The St. Charles Institute, and the Religious Liberty Partnership, have joined together as the Abolish Anti-Conversion Laws and Apostasy Penalties Coalition in an unprecedented advocacy initiative. The first action will be to host a side event to the First Annual International Religious Freedom Summit, taking place 13 – 15 July 2021 in Washington, D.C.

The upcoming side event, entitled Free to Choose, will convene survivors of apostasy and anti-conversion laws, FoRB experts, and government representatives to discuss the legislations and practices around the world which punish individuals for leaving or changing their religion, and to address how policymakers can encourage the global repeal of apostasy and anti-conversion laws.

CLICK HERE to register (at no cost) for virtual attendance at the event (Thursday, 15 July at 4:30pm EDT). If you would like to attend the event in person in Washington, DC, please go to this link. Note that to attend the event in person, you must also register and pay to attend the broader IRF Summit.

Currently, there are over 20 nations – in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia – in which apostasy is penalized; in more than ten of these countries, individuals who renounce their faith or convert religions may be sentenced to death for no crime other than exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief. Some nations explicitly include apostasy prohibitions in their penal codes, some permit regions and provinces to make their own legislations, and some others don’t necessarily criminalize religious conversion but instead target acts of peaceful evangelism.

Moderated by Jubilee’s Ann Buwalda, Free to Choose will have expert speakers, witnesses, and survivors will shed light on the above issues. Speakers will include Jos Douma, Special Envoy for Religion and Belief, Netherlands; Tehmina Arora, ADF International; Godfrey Yogarajah, World Evangelical Alliance; Kamal Fahmi, Set My People Free; and several others..

You can download the event flyer with all of the speaker details, and other information at: https://tinyurl.com/6bd7evjp.

For more information, contact [email protected].