Near-unanimous resolution urges Nigeria to “immediately and unconditionally release Yahaya Sharif-Aminu,” and abolish blasphemy laws.
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GENEVA (12 February 2025) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, has welcomed the US government’s executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sport”. The executive order, issued on 5 February, reinforces the necessity of maintaining sex-based categories in sports to safeguard fairness, safety, and dignity for female athletes.
“This decision reaffirms the importance of maintaining sex-based categories in sports, thereby safeguarding equal opportunities for women and girls,” Alsalem said.
“Most notably, it mandates the preservation of all-female athletic opportunities and locker rooms, ensuring privacy and dignity for women and girls. This executive order sends a clear message that the rights of women and girls to female-only spaces, including in sports, matter,” Alsalem added.
"This decision reaffirms the importance of maintaining sex-based categories in sports, thereby safeguarding equal opportunities for women and girls."
“The US government’s clear stand for women and girls in sport carries tremendous global significance. The executive order commits to advocating for international rules and norms that protect a sex-based female sports category—a pivotal step for fairness and safety in female sports across the globe. Its emphasis on working with the United Nations and international sporting bodies has the potential to restore the right of women and girls to fair competition and safe sporting spaces. As the Special Rapporteur highlights, now the international community must cooperate on this critical human rights issue,” responded Giorgio Mazzoli, director of UN advocacy for ADF International.
The executive order commits the administration to “promote, including at the United Nations, international rules and norms governing sports competition to protect a sex-based female sports category”. The Special Rapporteur welcomed the commitment to advocating for international rules at the UN to protect a sex-based female sports category.
Alsalem previously warned the Biden administration that permitting males in women’s sports would be incompatible with US international human rights obligations. Her report highlighting how “huge numbers” of female athletes have lost opportunities to male athletes garnered viral attention last year.
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Pictured:
(1,2) Female athletes supported by Alliance Defending Freedom;
(3,4) Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls
(5) Giorgio Mazzoli, Director of UN Advocacy
11 pastors, ministry leaders with Puerta de la Montaña now safe in Guatemala after being sentenced to millions in fines and 10+ years in prison on sham charges.
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In this video, teaching Pastor at King’s Church London and writer, Andrew Wilson, discusses the concept of freedom, something we all seem obsessed with but unable to define in clear terms.
He references everything from the dystopian visions of ‘Brave New World’, ‘1984’ and ‘The Hunger Games’ in discussing the tension and paradoxes that exist within our own understanding of what liberty truly is.
This, he argues, can only be resolved by an explicitly Christian vision.
Learn what ADF International is doing to defend everyone’s right to peacefully live out their faith.
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Governments around the world are ramping up censorship under the guise of fighting hate speech and misinformation. From the EU’s push for a region-wide hate speech law to the Digital Services Act’s regulation of online platforms, free speech is under threat.
In this video, ADF International’s Executive Director, Paul Coleman, unpacks the “Censorship Industrial Complex” and reveals the three main methods states are using to control information globally.
It’s a book about the experiences of Christian resistance, Christians resisting communism and what they had to suffer. Every single person featured, whether it was in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland or Russia all said that the ability to suffer seriously for your faith was the key thing needed to have nobody suffer.
CAIRO (2 February 2025) – The father of 5 imprisoned for participating in a private Facebook group about converting to Christianity from Islam has been freed from detention after 3 years – but his case remains open.
Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo, originally from Yemen, was part of a Christian Facebook group that discussed Islamic theology and apologetics. In 2021, Abdo was arrested while he was living as a UNHCR-registered asylum seeker in Egypt. He had originally fled to Egypt because he faced death threats in Yemen after converting to Christianity.
"It isn’t right that a government should tear me away from my family, keep me in these awful conditions, only because of the faith in which I peacefully choose to believe."
He was moved between several detention centers throughout his three years of imprisonment, even undergoing a hunger strike within his final six months in an act of desperation. The husband and father of five suffered from poor health in relation to his heart, liver, and kidneys.
“I endured many hardships in prison. It isn’t right that a government should tear me away from my family, keep me in these awful conditions, only because of the faith in which I peacefully choose to believe.
“I thank everyone who prayed for me while I was in prison, cared about and followed up on my case, and shared the joy of my release from prison,” commented Abdo upon his release.
Abdo’s son, Husam Baqi, added:
“It is hideous that individuals are not allowed to believe and express their beliefs freely and are imprisoned or killed for their faith.”
"This case shows the extremity of unchecked government censorship in the online age."
Abdo continues to fight his open legal battle with support from ADF International, who helped secure his release by submitting his case to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
Commenting on the case, Kelsey Zorzi, Director of Advocacy for Religious Freedom for ADF International, said:
“The arbitrary detention of this husband and father without a criminal trial, and the lack of an opportunity for him to defend himself against alleged offenses, constitutes a severe violation of human rights.
“The peaceful expression of one’s religious convictions cannot be a crime – not in Egypt, nor anywhere else in the world. This case shows the extremity of unchecked government censorship in the online age. The world must take note.”
While Abdo sufered in prison, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, described his unfair treatment as “grotesque”.
“The imprisonment of Yemeni refugee Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo at the hands of Egyptian authorities is a surreal example of censorial blasphemy policies in action,” she said.
Previously a prominent atheist, Ali announced in November that she was converting to Christianity. Because of her outspoken rhetoric against the Muslim Brotherhood, she faces constant death threats.
“This is the logical conclusion to a trend that empowers authorities to brutalize innocent people for free expression on social media. From China to Pakistan, from Russia to Syria, from the UK to Egypt—free speech must urgently be defended from our age’s resurgent Stalinism,” she added.
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PICTURED: Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo; Kelsey Zorzi, ADF International
ADF International submitted a legal brief to the Polish Parliament challenging the far-reaching Polish Government Bill amending the Criminal Code (No. 876) on hate speech. We argued that the Bill and its enforcement of ‘hate speech’ does not comply with the international right to freedom of expression and extends beyond the universally established grounds of limitation to this right.should abandon the Bill.
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UPDATE, FEB. 2, 2025:
The father of 5 imprisoned for participating in a private Facebook group about converting to Christianity from Islam has been freed from detention after 3 years – but his case remains open.
Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo, originally from Yemen, was part of a Christian Facebook group that discussed Islamic theology and apologetics. In 2021, Abdo was arrested while he was living as a UNHCR-registered asylum seeker in Egypt. He had originally fled to Egypt because he faced death threats in Yemen after converting to Christianity.
The Egyptian government is bound under the Constitution and international law to recognize the fundamental rights to religious freedom, free speech, and a fair trial. While these rights must be upheld and protected, Egyptian authorities continue to act with hostility toward Christians and other religious minorities.
Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo is a victim of these human rights injustices. Abdulbaqi was arrested for his involvement with a Facebook page that seeks to minister to Christians who have converted from Islam. The authorities arrested him on fabricated verbal charges of blasphemy for facilitating conversations online with converts, and held him in pre-trial detention for over 3 years, since 2021.
ADF International has supported his legal defense and joined religious freedom leaders from the international community in demanding his release. Abdulbaqi was freed in January 2025 and has been safely reunited with his family. His case remains open before the State Security authorities, however, and ADF International will continue to support him with future legal developments.
“The arbitrary detention of Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo without a criminal trial and the lack of an opportunity for him to defend himself against his alleged offenses constitutes a severe violation of his human rights. The peaceful expression of one’s religious convictions should not lead someone to be detained for years. No one should be imprisoned for supporting Christian converts, let alone be told that they are a national security risk for expressing their beliefs.”
Elizabeth Francis, Legal Counsel for ADF International’s Global Religious Freedom team
"The peaceful expression of one’s religious convictions should not lead someone to be detained for years. No one should be imprisoned for supporting Christian converts, let alone be told that they are a national security risk for expressing their beliefs.”
Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo was arrested in 2021 for his involvement with a Facebook page that is dedicated to supporting people who have converted from Islam to Christianity. Authorities arrested him after discovering his affiliation with the page, spuriously linking his involvement with terrorism activities in order to justify his continued detention without trial.
Over 3 years, Abdulbaqi was regularly moved around to different detention centers while awaiting his repeatedly postponed criminal trial. In addition to the very poor conditions that negatively impacted his physical health, he was regularly denied private visits from his family and legal counsel. This meant that essential supplies could not be delivered and he could not communicate with his lawyers in a secure environment.
Abdulbaqi, a Christian convert who had fled to Egypt from Yemen when his life was in danger, was arrested in December 2021 for his connection to the Facebook page and his public television evangelism. He was subsequently transferred to various detention cells despite suffering from severe medical issues. He was only allowed occasional visits from his wife and children, including his son who was born while he was in detention.
In August 2024, Abdulbaqi wrote a devastating letter to his family in which he vowed to strike in stages until he made the strike “complete,” including turning away healthcare treatment and, eventually, food. He is now living in safety in a third country.
ADF International supported Abdulbaqi’s legal defense with his lawyers and advocated for his release by submitting information to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and other international religious freedom experts, arguing that he had been deprived of his right to religious freedom and a fair trial under international law.
Thanks to the persistent international advocacy of ADF International and our partner organisations, Abdulbaqi was finally released and safely reunited with his family in January 2025. We continue to fight for justice in his case.
Your gift can support fundamental freedoms for this couple and others like them across the world. Thank you for your generosity.
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New York (27 January 2025) – A communication from the United States Mission to the United Nations has announced that the U.S. will rejoin the Geneva Consensus Declaration, a coalition of governments united around a pro-life policy stance.
Adopted in October 2020, the coalition is comprised of now 40 signatory countries that uphold the right to life of the unborn and affirm national sovereignty with regard to pro-life laws and policies.
“Returning the U.S. to the coalition carries significant legal weight in that it prevents the emergence of a false ‘human right’ to abortion by customary international law."
The U.S. was a founding member of the Geneva Consensus Declaration. The Biden Administration exited the coalition by Executive Order on 28 January 2021.
The Declaration affirms that, “every human being has the inherent right to life” and declares that there is no international obligation to promote or fund abortion. It further emphasizes holistic strategies for advancing women’s health and well-being, including maternal care, education, and economic development.
In addition, the Trump administration reinstated by Executive Order an expanded version of the Mexico City Policy, a mainstay of every Republican administration since 1984, which prohibits international non-governmental organizations that perform or promote abortion from receiving federal funding.
“By rejoining the Geneva Consensus Declaration and reinstating the expanded Mexico City Policy, the United States is committing to advancing a pro-life stance on the world stage, making clear that there is no so-called international ‘human right’ to abortion. This is a massive shift away from the virulent abortion promotion that characterized the Biden administration’s international engagement, particularly in the developing world,” commented Elyssa Koren, an international human rights lawyer for ADF International.
“The United States is saying no to the imposition of abortion pressure on sovereign nations. Rejoining the Geneva Consensus Declaration is sure to have a profound effect on governments that are trying to uphold their pro-life laws in the midst of extreme pressure from the pro-abortion lobby. Further, returning the U.S. to the coalition carries significant legal weight in that it prevents the emergence of a false ‘human right’ to abortion by customary international law.
“Life is a human right, and how American taxpayer dollars are deployed should reflect that truth. The expanded Mexico City Policy does just that,” Koren further stated.
Valerie Huber, the architect of the Geneva Consensus Declaration from the Institute for Women’s Health, stated:
“I commend President Donald J. Trump for fulfilling his promise to rejoin the Geneva Consensus Declaration (GCD), a first-of-its-kind global coalition of nations dedicated to improving women’s health, strengthening families, affirming that abortion is not an international human right, and upholding the sovereign right of nations to govern free from ideological colonialism.”
Huber’s statement in full can be found here.
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PICTURED: Elyssa Koren, International Human Rights Lawyer, ADF International
After we – and many other free speech groups – spent years sounding the alarm on the suppression of open conversation online, Mark Zuckerberg has this week committed to winding back censorship across all Meta platforms – including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
In a monumental announcement, the CEO admitted that the third-party “fact-checkers” employed to moderate content on Meta were “too politically biased”, and that it’s “time to get back to our roots around freedom of expression.”
This isn’t just good news for Instagrammers and influencers. It marks a sea change in the public landscape, indicating an expectation that our right to free speech will be honoured—whether on or offline.
We can celebrate this important milestone and will be watching closely to see if Zuckerberg follows through on his promises. But at ADF International, we’re still keenly aware that the threat to free speech comes not only from privately run internet platforms but also from governments.
Take Päivi Räsänen. This Finnish member of parliament will soon be heading to a criminal trial at the Supreme Court because of a Bible-verse tweet she posted in 2019. It wasn’t a social media platform that censored her Christian view—it was the state authorities. The case is due before the Finnish Supreme Court this year.
Or take Chris Elston, a.k.a viral internet sensation Billboard Chris. Last February, he posted about his disapproval of the WHO’s selection of an infamous transgender activist to be on a panel setting guidelines for global transgender policy.
It wasn’t a social media platform that decided that his opinion shouldn’t be heard—it was the Australian authorities. We’re supporting his fight for free speech as he goes to court in March, alongside “X,” who wants to be able to host his viewpoint without government interference.
It’s easy to become discouraged as we live through an era where speaking the truth can land you in legal trouble. But this week, we mark yet another clear indication that we’re moving the needle in the right direction.
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