By A. Mirsab, TwoCircles.net,
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has upheld France’s controversial law of banning face-covering Muslim veils or burqa from the streets, in a case brought by an unnamed 24-year-old French citizen of Pakistani origin, who wears both the burqa, covering her entire head and body, and the niqab, leaving only her eyes uncovered who said that her freedom of religion was violated.
She was represented by solicitors from Birmingham in the UK, who claimed the outlawing of the full-face veil was contrary to six articles of the European convention. They argued it was “inhumane and degrading, against the right of respect for family and private life, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of speech and discriminatory”.
The complainant, named only by the initials SAS, was described as a “perfect French citizen with a university education …who speaks of her republic with passion”.
Photo for representation purpose [courtesy :csmonitor.com]
Her lawyer Tony Muman told the ECHR last November: “She’s a patriot,” adding that she had suffered “absolutely no pressure” from her family or relatives to cover herself. While she was prepared to uncover her face for identity checks, she insisted on the right to wear the full-face veil, Muman said.
Judges at the European court of human rights (ECHR) have upheld France’s burqa ban, accepting Paris’s argument that it encouraged citizens to “live together”.
The ruling by the Strasbourg-based court was the first of its kind since France passed a law in 2010 that forbids anyone to hide his or her face in an array of places, including the street. The law went into effect in 2011.
The court’s Grand Chamber rejected the arguments of the French woman in her mid-20s, a practicing Muslim not identified by name. She said she does not hide her face at all times, but when she does it is to be at peace with her faith, her culture and convictions.
In her complaint she stressed that no one, including her husband, forced her to conceal her face, something of particular concern to French authorities.
The court ruled that the law’s bid to promote harmony in a diverse population is legitimate and does not breach the European Convention on Human Rights.
Critics of the ban, including human rights defenders, contend that the law targets Muslims and stigmatizes Islam. France has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe, estimated at five million which makes the issue particularly sensitive.
The ECHR has already upheld France’s ban on headscarves in educational establishments, and its regulation requiring the removal of scarves, veils and turbans for security checks.
Tuesday’s legal decision came a few days after France’s highest court, the cour de cassation, upheld the firing of a creche worker for “serious misconduct” after she arrived for work wearing a veil. The woman has said she will appeal to the ECHR.
European court of human rights calls ban ‘Proportionate’
The Court said it examined whether the ban was proportionate to the aim of “living together”, admitting that it might appear excessive to opt for a blanket ban given the small number of women concerned.
It also conceded that the ban did have a “significant negative impact” on the situation of those women and that “many national and international human rights bodies regarded a blanket ban as disproportionate”.
The judges stated that they were “very concerned” by indications that the debate which preceded the adoption of the law in 2010 had been “marked by certain Islamophobic remarks”. They added that such legislative process could contribute to the “consolidation of the stereotypes”.
In the end, however, the Court ruled that the ban was not expressly based on the religious connotation of the clothing in question – but “solely on the fact that it concealed the face”.
Reactions to the ruling of European court of human rights
Anti-discrimination organizations have expressed shock after the European court of human rights ruled that France has the right to ban women from wearing the full-face veil in public in the interests of everyone “living together”.
The judges ruled that the contested ban affected a group of Muslim women but did not take away their freedom to wear in public clothing or items that did not hide their faces.
“The question of accepting or not that the full veil can be worn in public is a society’s choice,” they ruled on Tuesday.
The Guardian quoted Shami Chakrabarti, director of the UK human rights pressure group Liberty, saying, “the ban has nothing to do with gender equality and everything to do with rising racism in Western Europe”.
“How do you liberate women by criminalizing their clothing? If you suspect bruises under a burqa, why punish the victim, and if you disapprove of the wearer’s choices, how does banishing her from public engagement promote liberal attitudes?” she questioned.
A law student Stéphanie Lécuyer, 39, who lives in Nice with her daughter, and who wears a niqab in public after converting to Islam 21 years ago, said to the Guardian: “I am so upset. So upset. I didn’t expect the court to lift the ban, but I hoped they would modify the law.”
“Perhaps now is not the time to comment. It’s all too raw and emotional. I’m still in shock. I’ve been wearing the niqab for many years and all I want is to live in peace. It’s never been an obstacle for me in my life. I know the clothing is not seen as moderate, but I am very moderate.” She added.
She continued, “If I go somewhere and need to show my face for security reasons, I do so. It really has never been a problem. Surely there are more important things happening in the world, terrible things in the name of religion, some of those things in the name of Islam, but all more important than this?”
Izza Leghtas, a researcher on Western Europe for Human Rights Watch, viewed the judgment as disappointing. She told Al Jazeera “Bans like this undermine the rights of women who choose to wear the veil and do little to protect those who are compelled to do so, just as laws in other countries forcing women to dress in a particular way undermine their rights to freedom of religion and expression.”
The court admitted the general ban could appear to be an overreaction to a small problem and said it was “extremely worried” by the Islamophobic declarations made during the parliamentary debate.
“This ban has a very strong negative impact on the situation of women who have made the choice of wearing the full veil for reasons linked to their beliefs,” the judges said, adding that the legislation had “risked contributing to and consolidating stereotypes affecting certain categories of people and encouraging expressions of intolerance”.
The same Guardian article reported Jonathan Birchall, of the Open Society Foundations established by the billionaire financier George Soros, saying: “We are all rather shocked by today’s burqa ban ruling … the court seems to have invented a new legal concept to justify the ban.”
He said German and Swedish judges at the ECHR had already made “scathing” rulings on the living-together concept, declaring it “far-fetched and vague”.
“The concept of living together does not fall directly under any of the rights and freedoms guaranteed within the (human rights) convention,” they wrote.
“It is true that ‘living together’ requires the possibility of interpersonal exchange. It is also true that the face plays an important role in human interaction. But this idea cannot be turned around, to lead to the conclusion that human interaction is impossible if the full face is not shown.”
“This is evidenced by examples that are perfectly rooted in European culture, such as the activities of skiing and motorcycling with full-face helmets and the wearing of costumes in carnivals. Nobody would claim that in such situations (which form part of the exceptions provided for in the French law) the minimum requirements of life in society are not respected. People can socialize without necessarily looking into each other’s eyes.”
Hijab restrictions elsewhere
Besides Belgium and France Italy has banned full-face coverings under counterterrorism laws since the 1970s. The Dutch government has also drafted legislation banning the burqa. Some German states forbid it, as did many cities in Spain until the Spanish high court declared the bans unconstitutional in 2013. Canada prohibits the wearing of veils during citizenship ceremonies, while British politicians are discussing restrictions on headscarves and veils in schools and in courts.
Europe and the West aren’t the only regions grappling with these questions. In Morocco, veils and headscarves are discouraged, and Tunisia only since year 2013 relaxed its ban on wearing them. Syria banned the full-face veil for university students in 2010 – but President Bashar al-Assad rescinded the ban the following year when he sought to appease religious conservatives as the country slid into civil war.
In Turkey headscarf was banned in government offices, hospitals, universities, and schools until 2013 when Turkish Pm Tayyip Erdogan lifted ban on Hijab or headscarf.