French Ban on Islamic Face Veil Challenged in Court

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A woman whose arrest for wearing a full veil prompted riots in France claims the ban on face coverings in public discriminates against Muslims

A woman whose arrest for wearing a full Islamic veil sparked riots in a Paris suburb on Wednesday challenged the legality of France's controversial ban on face coverings, claiming the law discriminated against Muslims.

At the start of a key trial which has thrown the spotlight on the country's attempts to protect its secular traditions, Cassandra Belin's lawyer told a Versailles court that the ban, which came into force in 2011, ran contrary to principles of religious freedom and was an offence to human dignity.

The 20-year-old Muslim convert refused to attend the hearing, her lawyer claiming she did not want to be perceived as a "symbol of rampant Islamisation". » | Hannah Strange | Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Jeremy Browne: Ban Muslim Women from Wearing Veils in Schools and Public Places

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Britain should consider banning Muslim girls and young women from wearing veils in schools and public places, a Home Office minister has said.

Jeremy Browne, a Liberal Democrat, said there needs to be a national debate about whether the state should step in to protect young women from having the veil “imposed” on them.

Mr Browne said he is “instinctively uneasy” about banning behaviour, but suggested the measure may still be necessary to ensure freedom of choice for girls in Muslim communities.

The Home Office minister is the first senior Liberal Democrat to raise such deep concerns about Islamic dress in public places. A growing number of Conservative MPs also want the Government to consider a ban.

The debate was given momentum last week when David Cameron’s spokesman said the Prime Minister would have no problem with the veil being banned in his children’s schools.

Tory MPs, including a vice-chairman of the party, have now voiced support for Mr Browne. » | Christopher Hope, and Steven Swinford | Sunday, September 15, 2013

France’s Burka Ban Is a Victory for Tolerance
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain’s politicians take fright at the idea – but Sarkozy’s brave step is both popular and right, says William Langley.

Despite some high-profile protests, France’s banning of the burka is enormously popular with the public. Unfortunately, as in Britain, almost anything politicians do that the voters approve of tends to be denounced as populisme – a particularly dread charge among the over-earnest French political class – and instead of enjoying the deserved benefits, President Nicolas Sarkozy has found himself on the defensive.

Sarko’s modest measure (the burka is forbidden only in public places, the fines are piffling and the enforcement procedures incomprehensible) has led to much talk of sledgehammers and nuts, warnings of an apocalyptic Muslim backlash and claims that the Republican tradition of liberté is being compromised in a seedy ploy to combat the resurgence of the hard-Right Front National under its new leader Marine Le Pen.

Almost anything, in fact, than an acknowledgement that the public overwhelmingly sees the ban as right for France, beneficial to its Muslim communities and justified – if on no other grounds – as a statement in support of liberalism against darkness. Approval runs right across the spectrum, with Fadela Amara, the Algerian-born former housing minister in Sarkozy’s government, calling the burka “a kind of tomb, a horror for those trapped within it”, and André Gerin, the Communist MP who headed the commission investigating the grounds for a ban, describing it as “the tip of an iceberg of oppression”.

So what do we get in Britain? Theresa May, the Home Secretary, rules out a ban because “it would be out of keeping with our nation’s longstanding record of tolerance”, while the Leftist commentariat continues – with apparent seriousness – to suggest that the face veil is a “lifestyle choice” and essentially no different from a balaclavas worn by middle-class types on the ski slopes of Courcheval. I suspect this thinking is going to have to change. Continue reading and comment » | William Langley | Monday, April 11, 2011

'Burqa Ban' in France: Housewife Vows to Face Jail Rather Than Submit
THE OBSERVER: Muslim woman says that she will not accept pressure from mosques or state over 'burqa ban' that begins on 11 April

Kenza Drider, a respectable mother-of-four, will leave her home in Avignon's Place de la Résistance on Monday with the intention of committing a crime. If the police are waiting for her – and they have had more than enough warning – she will be cautioned, perhaps be asked to accompany officers to the local station, possibly face a fine and, perhaps, will leave with a criminal record.

It is unlikely she will end up in jail, but who knows? It is a risk she is willing to take. Drider is not only determined to become a miscreant; she sees it as her absolute duty to do so.

This 32-year-old French housewife has become the face of the country's "burqa brigade", the women in France who cover themselves from head to toe in full veils. She will fall foul of a law that comes into effect on Monday 11 April tomorrow and forbids French citizens from covering their faces in public places; despite the ban's deliberately general wording, there is no doubt that its target is very specific: Muslim women.

Drider's first offence will be to set foot inside Avignon's TGV rail station where she is due to take a train to Paris. For this she risks a €150 fine and, if she repeats the offence, being sent on a "citizenship course".

"I will be going about my business in my full veil as I have for the last 12 years and nothing and nobody is going to stop me," she declares, swathed in the material she refuses to take off even while speaking to a female journalist in her own home.

Like most of the women concerned by this law, Drider wears a niqab veil that reveals only her eyes, as opposed to a burqa, the full body covering worn by Afghan women. » | Kim Willsher | Sunday, April 10, 2011

Frost Over the World - Debating the Face Veil
Just days before a ban on the full face veil starts in France, Sir David Frost is joined by British politicians Salma Yaqoob and imam Taj Hargey to discuss whether France has made the right decision. Plus, Guma El Gamaty discusses the situation in Libya and Knox Chitiyo talks about events in Cote d'Ivoire

Two New French Crimes
THE NEW YORK TIMES: On April 11th the French Republic will give birth to two new crimes: hiding one’s face in public and encouraging another to hide her face. On March 2nd the prime minister sent a circular to the head of each of France’s regional departments to explain the rationale of the new law. “The French Republic,” he proclaimed, “does not live with a hidden face.”

While the French president has made it clear that Muslim women who hide their faces are not welcome in France, the new law is not limited to Muslims. For the French government now believes that “to hide the face breaches minimal needs of social life.”

So on April 11th hiding one’s face in public will become a misdemeanor, with a €150 fine and/or civic training to teach the criminal the need to show her face. The prosecutor must prove that (a) the face was hidden and (b) the person was in a public space. He need not show intent to violate the law. If one encourages another to hide her face, one risks a year in prison and a €30,000 fine, two years and a €60,000 fine if the person encouraged is under 18. » | Ronald Sokol* | I.H.T. Op-Ed Contributor | Friday, April 01, 2011

*Ronald Sokol is a lawyer in Aix-en-Provence, France. He taught at the University of Virginia Law School and is the author of “Justice after Darwin.”

Image: Google Images
Italy to Ban the Burqah
MAIL ONLINE: Italy is set to become the next European country to ban the burka after a government report ruled in favour of the proposed legislation.

MPs from the anti-immigration Northern League party, a member of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s ruling right wing coalition, have presented the proposal in a bill.

It comes just weeks after France banned the wearing of burkas and other forms of face veils - a decision which prompted al Qaeda terrorists to vow revenge.

An Interior Ministry report now being considered by the Constitutional Affairs Commission says that if introduced the law should make clear burkas and other face coverings were being banned not for 'religious reasons but for security reasons.'

As part of their investigation the Interior Ministry heard from several leading Muslims on the use of the burka and several pointed out there was no mention of its use at all in the Koran.

Ejaz Ahmed, of the Italian Islam Committee said: 'The use of the burka and the niqab does not have its origins in the Koran - in fact it is not even mentioned in the Koran.

'The burka has nothing to do with religion and was being worn even before Islam was founded - it was worn by the Romans, Byzantines and Persians and wearing it is not a religious obligation.

'There is no connection between the burka and the niqab with the Islamic religion - the burqa should be banned to respect women’s dignity and the safety of the public given that in Pakistan many suicide bombers have hidden devices under burkas.'

However others from the Islam Committee ruled that the burka was part of Muslim culture. Italy to become next European country to ban burka after government report recommends forbidding it in public >>> Nick Pisa | Thursday, October 07, 2010

Liberals Quick to Back Burqa Ban
WA TODAY: Liberal leader Tony Abbott and WA Premier Colin Barnett have attacked a Muslim woman's request to testify in a court case wearing a full head covering.

A Perth judge is set to decide this week whether the woman who wears the burqa can testify before a jury in a fraud trial. She is a strict Muslim who does not want to show her face to men.

The traditional headscarf, also known as a niqab, covers virtually the whole body, allowing only a small slit for the eyes through which the woman can see.

The Opposition Leader today weighed into the debate, labelling the burqa a "particularly confronting" piece of clothing.

"I find the burqa a particularly confronting form of attire and I would very much wish that fewer Australians would choose it," Mr Abbott told reporters when asked about the case.

Mr Barnett today said he believed Muslim witnesses giving evidence in court should remove their burqa so the "true nature" of their evidence can be seen.

He said although he defended the right of people to dress according to their faith and religion, in this case it would be appropriate for the woman to remove her burqa.

"I would think, normally, witnesses should have their faces exposed," he said.

"I think it's important for the judge and jury to see the true nature of any evidence given, the expressions and the like. But that is a matter for the judge." >>> AAP | Wednesday, August 04, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Australian court to rule on whether Muslim woman can give evidence in burka: An intense debate over the burka has been sparked in Australia after a Muslim woman asked a judge to allow her to give evidence while wearing the full veil. >>> Bonnie Malkin in Sydney | Thursday, August 05, 2010

Canadians Back Burka Ban, Says QMI Poll
TORONTO SUN: OTTAWA - Canada should ban burkas in public, according to more than half of the people polled exclusively for QMI Agency.

The Leger Marketing online poll found 54% of people surveyed said the government should follow France's lead and not allow women to wear burkas in public for safety and transparency reasons.

Only 20% of respondents said Canada shouldn't consider a ban because it's an issue of freedom of religion and freedom of expression, and 15% said it didn't affect them either way.

Older Canadians were more likely to agree with a ban, with 71% of those 65 years and older choosing that option. Only 40% of Canadians 18-34 years old said burkas should be banned.

Leger Marketing vice-president Dave Scholz said the poll surprised staff at the research firm.

"This is Canada -- we don't ban anything," * he said. >>> Laura Payton, QMI Agency Parliamentary Bureau | Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Yes, you do, Sir! You ban smoking for a start! Check this out!

Photograph: Google Images
Saudi Cleric: OK for Women to Show Face in France
SALON.COM: Influential Sheikh Ayedh al-Garni slams the proposed burqa ban, but gives Muslims permission to obey it

This weekend brought news for Muslim women in France: They are allowed to go out in public without a full veil. You might wonder how exactly this is news, seeing as the country's recent push for a burqa ban is all about forcing women to go unveiled in public -- but the pronouncement didn't come from the French government but rather an influential Saudi cleric.

Sheikh Ayedh al-Garni spoke out against the proposed ban, calling it "illogical and unreasonable," but conceded: "In case a ban is enforced against a Muslim woman there -- and as a consequence there is a reaction or negative implications or harassment or harm -- it is better for the Muslim woman to reveal her face." It isn't the most generous fatwa, considering that if the French law passes, they won't have much of a choice, regardless. >>> Tracy Clark-Flory | Monday, July 26, 2010

Burka Ban Tory MP Could Face Legal Action
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: The MP who is refusing to hold meetings with Muslim women wearing full Islamic dress faces legal action.

In an interview with The Independent this month, Philip Hollobone said he would ask a woman wearing the niqab at his constituency surgery to lift her face veil. If she refused, he would end the interview, although he would take up her case if she later wrote a letter to him.

The human rights group Liberty has written to the Kettering MP warning that his decision would breach the 2006 Equality Act. It told him: “As an MP providing a service? [sic] the obligation under the Equality Act not to discriminate applies to you.” The group “will be happy to represent any of your constituents that you refuse to meet because they are veiled”. >>> Andrew Grice, Political Editor | Sunday, July 25, 2010

British Dhimmitude! Burka Ban Ruled Out by Immigration Minister
THE TELEGRAPH: Britain will not follow France by introducing a law banning women from wearing the burka, the immigration minister has ruled.

Damian Green said such a move would be “rather un-British” and run contrary to the conventions of a “tolerant and mutually respectful society”.

He said it would be “undesirable” for Parliament to vote on a burka ban in Britain and that there was no prospect of the Coalition proposing it.

His comments will dismay the growing number of supporters of a ban. A YouGov survey last week found that 67 per cent of voters wanted the wearing of full-face veils to be made illegal.

Mr Green used a wide-ranging interview with The Sunday Telegraph, his first since taking up his post at the Home Office in May, to issue a “message around the world that Britain is no longer a soft touch on immigration”.

He said the summer would see a major crackdown on the main streams of illegal immigration — including sham marriages, illegal workers and people trafficking — and confirmed that this autumn the Government would set an overall cap on migrants entering Britain from outside the European Union.

His firm decision to rule out a burka ban will disappoint some Right-of-centre Tory MPs, including Philip Hollobone, who has tabled a private member’s bill that would make it illegal for anyone to cover their face in public.

Mr Hollobone, the MP for Kettering, said this weekend that he would refuse to hold any constituency meetings with women wearing burkas. >>> Patrick Hennessy, Political Editor | Saturday, July 17, 2010

Not a pair of balls between them! – © Mark

Al hamdu lillah! French MPs Vote in Favour of Banning Burka
THE TELEGRAPH: French MPs have passed a law banning Islamic face veils from public areas amid warnings it poses constitutional problems and risks being overturned in the courts.

On the eve of Bastille Day, marking the birth of France's staunchly secular republic, the vast majority of MPs in the country's National Assembly voted in favour of outlawing the burka and the niqab from French streets, making it the second European country after Belgium to clamp down.

The new law, passed by 335 votes to one, is expected to sail through the Senate in September and be in force by early next year after a six-month explanatory period.

However, it could yet be deemed unconstitutional by France's highest legal body, the Constitutional Council, which President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party has asked to rule on the matter, while it could also fall foul of European human rights legislation.

Under the new law, women who wear face-covering veils in all public places in France, including the street, face being fined 150-euro (£125) or ordered to follow citizenship classes, or both.

Husbands and fathers who force such veils on women and girls risk a year of prison and a 30,000-euro (£25,000) fine, with both penalties doubled if the victim is a minor. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Tuesday, July 13, 2010

La loi antiburqa adoptée sans opposition à l'Assemblée
Le premier ministre François Fillon, lors des questions au gouvernement, mardi à l'Assemblée nationale. Photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Un seul élu a voté contre le texte et vingt élus de gauche l'ont approuvé.

La loi antiburqa a franchi le cap de l'Assemblée nationale. Vingt députés de gauche (dont 14 socialistes, 4 radicaux de gauche, le communiste André Gerin et le chevènementiste Jacques Desallangre) ont voté mardi le projet de loi visant à interdire le port du voile intégral dans l'espace public. Michèle Alliot-Marie n'y est pas étrangère. La garde des sceaux a adressé de nombreux signes aux dirigeants socialistes.

Le texte a été adopté à une écrasante majorité (335 voix), seul un député non inscrit, Daniel Garrigue (villepiniste, ex-UMP), votant contre. Les villepinistes Marc Bernier, François Goulard, Jean-Pierre Grand et Marie-Anne Montchamp, eux, n'ont pas participé au vote.

Ce résultat est une victoire pour Jean-François Copé, le patron des députés UMP, ardent partisan de ce texte. La quasi-totalité de la droite (UMP et Nouveau Centre) a voté pour, de même que le président du MoDem François Bayrou, le souverainiste Nicolas Dupont-Aignan et les villiéristes Véronique Besse et Dominique Souchet. >>> Par Sophie Huet | Mardi 13 Juillet 2010

Frankreich: Burka-Verbot rückt näher
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Die französische Nationalversammlung hat ein landesweites Verbot der Burka verabschiedet, der Senat muss aber noch zustimmen. Mit dem Gesetz will die Regierung das Tragen von Vollschleiern in der Öffentlichkeit komplett untersagen.

Die französische Nationalversammlung hat am Dienstag ein landesweites Verbot der Burka verabschiedet. Die Abgeordneten stimmten mit 336 zu einer Stimme für das Gesetz, das die Gesichtsverschleierung in der Öffentlichkeit verbietet.

Das Gesetz sieht ein Verbot jeglicher Art von Vermummung vor, etwa auch Gesichtsmasken bei Demonstrationen und nicht nur von muslimischen Frauen getragene Schleier wie die Burka oder den Nikab. Im September stimmt der Senat über das Gesetz ab, das kommendes Jahr in Kraft treten soll; auch der Verfassungsrat soll noch Stellung dazu beziehen. >>> Text: AFP,
Bildmaterial: Archiv, dpa | Dienstag, 13. Juli 2010

Vom Kopftuch bis zum Ganzkörperschleier

Spanish Town Bans Burka in Public Buildings
THE TELEGRAPH: The Spanish town of Lerida has become the first in the country to ban the Burka in municipal buildings.

The town council voted to prohibit the "use of the veil and other clothes and accessories which cover the face and prevent identification in buildings and installations of the town hall."

The vote, by 23 to one with two abstentions, is the first of its kind in Spain, a country where Islamic veils and the body-covering burqas are little in evidence despite a large Muslim population.

The move is aimed at promoting "respect for the dignity of women and values of equality and tolerance," the town hall said in a statement. >>> | Friday, May 28, 2010

Related article here

German Euro MP Koch-Mehrin Urges EU Burka Ban
BBC: A top German Euro MP has called for a Europe-wide ban on wearing the Islamic full-body veil, or burka, in public.

Silvana Koch-Mehrin, a member of the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), said the burka was "a massive attack on women's rights - it is a mobile prison".

Her party is in the German government with Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU).

Belgian MPs have voted to ban garments covering the face in public, including the burka and the Islamic niqab.

The ban would be the first such restriction in Europe if backed by Belgium's upper house.

In an article in the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, Ms Koch-Mehrin said wearing the burka "openly supports values that we do not share in Europe".

"I want the wearing of all forms of the burka to be banned in Germany too - and throughout Europe." Opposition to ban >>> | Monday, May 03, 2010

Related / Verbunden / Liens en relation avec l’article: here / hier / ici

France Socialist Party Opposes Burka Ban
BBC: France's opposition Socialists have come out against a law banning the burka - even though they remain firmly opposed to the garment.

The announcement comes ahead of a parliamentary report on the issue that is due out later this month.

Last summer, French MPs held hearings on whether to ban the Muslim veil, which covers the body from head to toe.

President Nicolas Sarkozy had said the burka was "not welcome" in France, home to Europe's largest Muslim population.

Mr Sarkozy has left open the idea of introducing legislation to ban the burka.

While the Socialist Party opposes the wearing of the burka, it was "not favourable" to a legal ban, said party spokesman Benoit Hamon. >>> | Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Burka Ban Proposal Dropped: The governing Conservative Party has dropped its proposal for a ban on the burka
POLITIKEN: A controversial proposal fielded by the governing Danish Conservative Party to ban the Muslim burka and niqab in the public space has been dropped after Justice Ministry officials have studied the idea.

”The Justice Ministry officials have said that in their view, the proposal raises important issues in relation to the European Convention on Human Rights, and the Constitution,” says Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen (Cons).

”It’s obvious that neither I, nor a party such as the Conservative People’s Party, can support a proposal that raises that sort of legal issue,” says Mikkelsen.

Controversy

Controversy arose on the issue after the Conservative Party’s new integration spokesman announced in August that the party, which is the junior minority coalition party, wanted to introduce a total ban on Muslim burkas or niqabs in the public space.

“We don’t want to see burkas in Denmark. We simply can’t accept that some of our citizens walk around with their faces covered,” MP Naser Khader (Cons) said at the time. >>> Edited by Julian Isherwood | Thursday, September 17, 2009