Newsletter "Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief"

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Erin Gardner
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1 Human Rights Without Frontiers Int'l Newsletter "Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief" Disclaimer: Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) publishes information from a variety of outside sources which express a wide range of viewpoints. The positions taken in these communications are not necessarily those of HRWF Table of Contents EU / FRANCE European Court of Human Rights fails to protect religious freedom 4 July 2014

2 Our website has been updated with news that were not published in our Newsletters. Visit the section "Human Rights by Topic" EU / FRANCE European Court of Human Rights fails to protect religious freedom Threat of full-face veil to "open, personal relationships" trumps human rights FOREF/ Europe ( ) / - By upholding a French ban on wearing full-face veils, a common Muslim practice, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has failed to protect the religious freedom of Islamic women who choose the veil as an expression of their faith, according to the Forum for Religious Freedom-Europe (FOREF), an independent nongovernmental monitoring group. A French law banning wearing a full-face veil has been in force since 11 April According to a press release issued by the Registrar of the Court, the ECHR "emphasized that respect for the conditions of 'living together' was a legitimate aim" for the French law, given that "the State had a 'wide margin of appreciation' as regards this general policy question..." "By giving priority to a vague social goal over the fundamental human right to manifest one's religious beliefs, the ECHR has undermined the freedom of religion with this ruling, " according to Dr. Aaron Rhodes, president of FOREF. According to the Registry statement, "the Court accepted that the barrier raised against others by a veil concealing the face in public could undermine the notion of "living together". In that connection, it indicated that it took into account the State's submission that the face played a significant role in social interaction...the Court was also able to understand the view that individuals might not wish to see, in places open to all, practices or attitudes which would fundamentally call into question the possibility of open interpersonal relationships, which, by virtue of an established consensus, formed an indispensable element of community life within the society in question. The Court was therefore able to accept that the barrier raised against others by a veil concealing the face was perceived by the respondent State as breaching the right of others to live in a space of socialisation which made living

3 together easier." (emphasis added) "Living together, in a pluralistic society where individual rights are respected, means tolerating differences, not prohibiting them because others 'might not wish to see them,'" Aaron Rhodes said. "Since the Court evidently thinks promoting 'social interaction' and 'easier living together' is more important than protecting one of the most basic human rights, then we can expect further erosion of respect for other human rights if exercising them is arbitrarily deemed unsocial," he said. France was the first country to ban the full-faced veil, followed by Belgium; several European cities have imposed similar bans. In 2010, the ECHR ruled against Turkey, holding that religious garments were not a threat to public order. Human Rights Without Frontiers, a Brussels-based group also focusing on freedom of religion, noted that the "Observatoire de la laïcité" in France "found that police have issued about 1000 fines since April About 600 women were concerned by this measure, some getting several fines (one woman got 33). On 1st July, Michaël Khiri was sentenced to a suspended three-month prison term and a 1000 EUR fine by the Appellate Court of Versailles for violently opposing an identity control of his wife wearing the niqab in July 2013 in Trappes (Yvelines). This incident then provoked several nights of violence." FOREF, based in Vienna, was founded in 2005 by former Graz University Rector and Law Dean Christian Bruenner and human rights activist Peter Zoehrer. FOREF has focused largely on monitoring attacks on minority religions and appealing to governments to end discriminatory practices. For more information: Aaron Rhodes, president of FOREF Europe : Peter Zoehrer, Executive Director: Recommended further reading: Understanding the EU Human Rights Court's Big Ruling on France's Headscarf Ban (Article in UN Dispatch, by Penelope Starr) BBC: The Islamic veil across Europe (Overview of how European countries deal with the issue of the Muslim veil) French Muslim women on burqa ban ruling: 'All I want is to live in peace' (Article in The Guardian, by Kim Willsher) European Court ruling on full-face veils punishes women for expressing their beliefs (Article by Amnesty International UK) Why France's Ban on Face Veils Is Bad News for Women (Article in Mashable, by Louise Roug)

4 For more information about religious freedom issues in France in 2014, see HRWF database: Some activities in 2014 Participation in the Conference of the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion "Sacred and Secular" in Oxford and presentation on "The EU Guidelines on Freedom of Religion or Belief, a Challenge to the EU Institutions" ( ) Publication in Russian with St Petersburg University of HRWF book on FECRIS Publication of "Un kaleidoscope de la crise ukrainienne" in Histoire et Liberté, Institut d'histoire Sociale (pp 15-36) Mission in Odessa about the 2nd May tragedy and the presidential election ( ) Participation in a meeting of the Grand Round Table in Budapest ( ) Workshop organized by Dr Mark Barwick, HRWF Policy analyst, at the EU Fundamental Rights Agency annual meeting in Vienna ( ) Presentation at the conference "Organ Harvesting in China" at the EESC in Brussels ( ) Interview about "Organ Harvesting in China" by NTDTV ( ) Lecture about human rights advocacy for a group of Swedish university students (19 March 2014) Breakfast meeting at the European Parliament with Mgr Borys Gudziak, Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Bishop ( ) Organizing a conference on "Religious Minorities in Iran" at the European Parliament (18 March 2014) Co-organizing the side-event "The Rise of Religious Intolerance" at the UN in Geneva with a presentation on "Religious Intolerance & Ethno-Religious Conflicts in Africa" by Dr. Mark Barwick, HRWF Policy Analyst ( ) Fact-finding mission in Azerbaijan ( ) Fact-finding mission in Japan ( ) and press conference in Tokyo ( ) Interview by Polish Television "Telewizja Elblaska" on the collaboration NGOs - European Parliament for the promotion of human rights ( )

5 Participation of HRWF Policy Adviser Dr Mark Barwick as facilitator and workshop trainer in the Budapest conference on "Prevention of Genocide & Mass Atrocities" organized by the Budapest Center for the International Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities ( ) Participation in a demonstration against human rights violations in Russia outside the European Council in Brussels ( ) Participation in the briefing of the Human Rights Dialogue EU-Azerbaijan and debriefing of the Human Rights Dialogue EU-Armenia ( ) Lecture on the EU and freedom of religion or belief for Brigham Young University ( ) HRWF Newsletter on Freedom of Religion or Belief in Italian ( ) Publication of "The International Community and North Korea - Which Way to Go? Encourage Conversion to Capitalism or Sanctions?" in "Human Rights and Democratic Transition in North Korea", Hans Seidel Foundation (January 2014) HRWF network of experts covers more than 20 countries, including AUSTRIA (Dr. Reinhard Kohlhofer - Prof. Dr. Christian Bruenner ) - BELARUS (Prof. Viktor Adzinochanka ) - BELGIUM (Attorney Inès Wouters ) - CHINA (Willy Fautré ) FRANCE (Prof. Regis Dericquebourg ) - GERMANY (Prof. Dr Thomas SCHIRRMACHER ) - IRAQ (Dr Eden Naby ) - ITALY (Raffaella Di Marzio) - KAZAKHSTAN (Dr Roman Podoprigora ) - KOREA, REPUBLIC OF (Prof. Joshua Park ) - KENYA (Dr. Alex OJACOR ) - LEBANON (Dr. Elie Abouaoun ) - PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY (Dr. Justus Reid Weiner - Dr. Susanna Kokkonen ) - POLAND (Agnieszka Koscianska / Warsaw University ) - RUSSIA (Prof. Elena Miroschnikova - Attorney Sergey Tarasov) - UKRAINE (Prof. Yevgeniya Dodina ), etc. HRWF Int'l Human Rights Advocacy Network ARMENIA: Pro-Democracy Association AZERBAIJAN: The Institute of Peace and Democracy DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Ligue des Sacrifices Volontaires pour les Droits de l'homme GEORGIA: Human Rights Information and Documentation Center IRAQ: Assyrian Aid Society JAPAN: Life Fund for North Korean Refugees MOLDOVA: Promo-LEX Association NEPAL: Human Rights Without Frontiers/ Nepal RUSSIA: Sova-Center RWANDA: Association Rwandaise des Travailleurs Chrétiens SERBIA: Centar 9 SOUTH KOREA: Korean Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims and Families (KRCT) TCHAD: Droits de l'homme sans frontières UKRAINE: International Centre for Policy Studies

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