09/22/2011

France's Burqa Ban

Two Women Fined for Covering Faces
AP
Unidentified women wearing niqabs during a 2010 demonstration in Holland.
The new "burqa ban" in France has roduced i!s firs! !ria" and convic!ions# Two
women who s!aged a ro!es! in $a% wi"" have !o a% fines& 'ne defendan! on
Thursda% romised !o bring her case before !he (uroean Cour! of )uman
*igh!s&
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A court in suburban Paris on %#ursday #anded out fines to t#e first two women
tried in France for violating a ban on wearing face&covering garments in public.
+,-(./(
Hind A#mas '2 and (a)ate (aitali '* were bot# cited in +ay for wearing
niqabs traditional +uslim face veils w#ile trying to enter t#e +eau, town #all wit# a
birt#day ca"e for t#e mayor. +eau, is a suburb of Paris and its mayor -ean&Francois
.ope #elped pus# t#e $burqa ban$ t#roug# France/s parliament last year. He also
leads President (icolas 0ar"o1y/s conservative U+P party.
A#mas received a 2120 341*15 fine on %#ursday and vowed to bring #er case up
before t#e 6uropean .ourt of Human 7ig#ts. (aitali received an 280 fine in absentia
&& after #aving been denied entry for refusing to ta"e off #er niqab.
$3%#is5 violates 6uropean laws$ A#mas told reporters after t#e #earing in +eau,.
$For us t#e question isn/t t#e amount of t#e fine but t#e principle. 9e can/t accept t#at
women are sentenced because t#ey are freely e,pressing t#eir religious beliefs.$
%#ey reportedly carried an almond ca"e for +ayor .ope as part of a symbolic protest
as t#e Frenc# words for bot# $almonds$ and $fines$ sound similar.
'The 0rob"em is ,o! !he Fine'
France/s so&called $burqa ban$ is one of several measures passed in 6urope last year
against clot#ing t#at covers t#e face. %#e controversial law && w#ic# +uslims call
discriminatory && came into force in April. +any women #ave been stopped by police
for violations but A#mas and (aitali were t#e first women to c#allenge t#eir citations
to court.
$%#e problem is not t#e fine$ t#eir lawyer told t#e :erman news agency ;PA on
%#ursday. $%#e problem is t#at t#ese women are effectively under #ouse arrest. %#at/s
t#e real punis#ment.$
%#e Frenc# proceedings were closely followed by governments around 6urope. !taly
and <elgium #ave passed similar legislation w#ile ;enmar" t#e (et#erlands and
:ermany #ave debated t#em. A number of nations already forbid face&covering
garments for state employees w#ile t#ey/re on t#e )ob && including teac#ers && but a full
ban #as never been tested by modern 6uropean democracies.
$3%#e ban5 simply violates my individual freedom my freedom of t#oug#t of
religious e,pression and practice$ A#mas told t#e Daily Telegraph $and ! #ave
absolutely no intention of applying it.$
%#e Frenc# law #as popular support and some politicians claim t#ey want to save
+uslim women from t#e bac"ward influence of religiously conservative men.
$%#ere are e,tremist gurus out t#ere and we must stop t#eir influence and
barbaric ideologies$ a .ommunist Party lawma"er named Andr= :erin told reporters
last year according to USA Today. $.overing one/s face undermines one/s identity a
woman/s femininity and gender equality.$
<ut t#e Frenc# law ma"es no reference to religion or gender. !t forbids face coverings
but ma"es a number of e,ceptions && for motorcycle #elmets for e,ample or fencing
and s"i mas"s.
A number of niqab&wearing activists turned out in +eau, on %#ursday to support
A#mas and (aitali. >ne was ?en1a ;rider w#o said s#e #oped to c#allenge President
0ar"o1y in a run for president ne,t year.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,787879,00.html