European Court of Human Rights O.K.s so-called Belgian “burqa ban”


nsnbc : The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that it has no objections against Belgium’s so-called burqa ban from 2011.

Afghan women (archives)

Afghan women surrounded by Taliban before execution for “speaking out against Taliban” (archives)

Wearing the traditional full-body garnment that also fully covers Muslim women’s face while in public was banned in Belgium since 2011. The ECHR ruled that the ban neither constitutes a violation of the privacy principle nor the freedom of faith – religion.

The Court also explicitly ruled that the burqa made equal treatment of men and women in society difficult. In 2011 Belgium enacted legislation banning clothing including the burqa that covers the face in public.

Saudi women - headwear enforced in a country that sentences women to death for sorcery.

Saudi women – headwear enforced in a country that sentences women to death for sorcery.

The legislation also encompasses other Muslim headwear for women that covers their face. The matter went to the European Court of Human Rights after two women were fined for wearing the garment in Etterbeek and Molenbeek in Brussels in 2009 and 2011.

The women claimed that privacy, freedom of faith and freedom of speech, three fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the European treaty on human rights, were being infringed.

The court threw out their complaint siding with Belgium. Earlier the court also backed a similar burqa ban in France. The general consensus in Europe is that burqa’s facilitate the oppression of Muslim women and that burqas and other religious headwear that fully covers the face of women makes it more difficult for Muslim women to integrate in society and to live a full life as full and equal members of society.

Moreover, a number of countries, such as Germany (Vermummungsverbot), have long ago adopted legislation that prohibits the wearing of garments or masks that fully cover a face in public. The legislation was initially passed to prevent that protesters at demonstrations hide their identity.

CH/L – nsnbc 11.07.2017



Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2017/07/11/european-court-of-human-rights-o-k-s-so-called-belgian-burqa-ban/

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