'If there is silence nothing will change' says former Secretary General on Religious Freedom

Panellists L-R: Farhan Saleem, John Pontifex, Dr Brian Grim, Karen Singarayer, Baroness Patricia Scotland and Fr Dominic Robinson (© ACN)

The first black former Secretary-General to the Commonwealth of Nations has said that conflicts would heal if people of all faiths and none were "willing to come together in one voice and say, 'not in my name'".

Baroness Patricia Scotland was guest of honour at a panel discussion 'Dare to Believe - Is Religious Freedom under growing threat around the world' a hybrid event, which took place yesterday (Sunday, 19th April 2026) at Farm Street Catholic Church, in Mayfair, London.

The meeting, organised by Farm Street Church and Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), addressed Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which guarantees the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.

Baroness Scotland, a former Commonwealth Leader and Labour MP, said: "We are at one of the most difficult moments in our history. There are more conflicts in our world today than in any other period since the end of the second world war when Article 18 was crafted to give expression to the hopes for humanity."

Referring to ACN's Religious Freedom in the World report which states 5.4bn people live in countries where serious religious-liberty violations occur, she added: "Two thirds live in countries without religious freedom yet is a fundamental tenet for our human rights.

"And it's a right that each of us should fight for because if one of us does not have the right to believe or not to believe, then none of us are safe.

"And each of us in our own way in wherever we are and whatever we do has the responsibility that the right enshrined in Article 18 is not just an aspiration but a reality."

She said she "remembered too well" as a teenager growing up in London that those outside her family said she could not achieve anything because she was black, female, socialist and Catholic.

She added: "In our world today we are being taught to disrespect the other, to be frightened of the other, to make sure that the other does not thrive… Whether you are a humanist, a Hindu, a Jew, a Catholic, a Muslim, the tenets of what we believe are very much the same... This is a moment of challenge for us, a challenge as to whether we truly believe in the tenets of our respective faiths and if we are willing to come together in one voice and say, 'not in my name'.

"It is down to each of us. If we are silent, nothing will change. If we are silent, the injustice in the world will continue. There is power in the collective."

Christian and Muslim survivors of Pakistan atrocities also shared their experiences.

Farhan Saleem described how he watched on helplessly as his father Malik Saleem was gunned down by extremists as the two lawyers travelled to work on a motorbike.

A prominent advocate, Malik was a leader of the Ahmadiyya Community, a persecuted minority Muslim movement considered "non-Muslims" by the All Pakistan Ulema Council, an organisation that unites Islamic and legal scholars from various traditions under one umbrella group.

Mr Saleem survived the attack on 30th March 2017 when the attackers fired a further three times but "no bullets came out".

He said: "This is not a Hollywood movie or fiction. This is real life that I've been through myself. We need to raise awareness that religious freedom is the only solution for real peace and we should work together."

A Christian who had to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals on his family remaining in Pakistan said he grew up being called "filthy" by his classmates.

Later he lost his job as a waiter after others discovered his faith, saying if he touched food he would "contaminate it". He said Christians are frequently beaten, accused of blasphemy or, in the case of girls, kidnapped and forced to convert.

He added: "We are not asking for pity, we are asking not to be forgotten."

Professor Brian Grim, founding president of the Religious Freedom and Business Foundation, said Article 18 applied to where people work, whether in a store or office adding: "Religious freedom isn't something a government gives, protects or takes away, it's something people respect, give to each other and can take away from each other.

"Measuring these two we found where you have less government restriction and more social tolerance or social acceptance of each other you had peace. It was the first research done showing that religious freedom is a formula for peace."

David Smith MP, UK Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, sent a recorded message.

He said was "struck" by the report of the billions of people globally living in countries where there are serious violations of the right to believe highlighting ACN's work as "fantastic".

He added: "This is an issue that the UK government takes very seriously. It's something that is at the heart of our foreign policy and will continue to be as set out in Article 18 of the Human Rights which we are absolutely signed up to and committed to."

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