ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY FOR APOSTASY, HUMANISTS TELLS THE MALDIVES AT UN

March 30, 2026:

At the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council, Humanists UK called on the Maldivian government to protect the rights of non-religious people. It urged them to abolish the death penalty, repeal blasphemy and apostasy laws, and recognise non-Muslims as citizens.
The intervention followed the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Maldives. UPR is a process where every UN country has its human rights record peer-reviewed by other countries. Each country is reviewed every four and a half years. Other countries can recommend ways it could better meet international human rights standards, and the country under review will state whether or not it accepts them.
Humanists UK expressed dismay that the Maldives has refused to accept at least nineteen recommendations seeking to abolish the death penalty. This is a particular concern for humanists because the Maldives is one of twelve countries in the world that maintains the death penalty for blasphemy or apostasy.