It is no secret that some European countries have been passing xenophobic laws for the past few years; and, if anything, these laws have proven at least two things:

a) Many European legislators (and the people who support them) have forgotten the key role European countries played in the devastation of the countries currently “pouring in immigrants”; a devastation that has lead to the situations of poverty and warfare that are making people flee the third world and seek asylum in Europe.

b) Many European legislators have forgotten a little something called human rights.

What does any of this have to do with France and Belgium?

In April of this year, after a full year debate and preparation, France passed a prohibition on full-faced veils in public places. Yes, after a year of criticizing the Muslim faith for forcing women to dress a certain way on the count of religious precepts (that France was not willing to understand or tolerate), France too decided to tell women how to dress -because apparently, two can play at that game. The dress code is simple: Muslim women in France can only dress in a way that is acceptable to Western eyes –regardless of the many human rights violations this dress code entails. In April of this year, Belgium began trying to pass a similar law, and it is very close to succeeding.

How does this violate human rights?

The rights of ethnic minorities

Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), states that ethnic minorities have the right “to enjoy their own culture [and] profess and practice their own religion […].”In addition, ethnic minorities have a right to self-determination as defined in article 1 of the ICCPR as well as General Assembly Resolution 1514 and 2625. This right involves the ability of all peoples to freely determine their political status and pursue their economic, social and cultural development. Because burqas constitute a form of expression of some members of the Muslim faith, burqas are an element of Muslim cultural identity and, therefore, are essential to the cultural development of the Muslims who chose to wear them.

The right to freedom of religion

Additionally, both France and Belgium have ratified the ICCPR and, therefore, must ensure the right to freedom of religion as stipulated in article 18(1) of said Covenant, which not only protects the right to have and adopt a religion, but also to manifest, observe, practice, and teach that religion individually or in community, in public and in private. Consequently, under the aforementioned article, Muslim women have the right to openly manifest their religion through the use of burqas in public and, as per article 18(2) of that Covenant France and Belgium have the negative obligation to refrain from impairing the free exercise of this right through coercive measures such as bans.

Intolerance and Discrimination based on Religion or Belief

The burqa ban, coupled with public statements made by French and Belgian leaders, constitutes an act of “intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief” as defined in UN General Assembly Resolution 36/55 (Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief) according to which said act consists of “any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on religion or belief and having as its purpose or as its effect nullification or impairment of the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal basis” (Article 2 of UN General Assembly Resolution 33/55).

Under article 20(2) of the ICCPR and article 3 of UN General Assembly Resolution 36/55, France and Belgium have the positive obligation to take “effective measures” (Article 3 of UN General Assembly Resolution 33/55) for prohibiting religious hatred and intolerance and must refrain from and prevent any incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence based on religion. In addition, in accordance with article 4(2) of the aforementioned resolution: “All States shall make all efforts to enact or rescind legislation where necessary to prohibit any such discrimination, and to take all appropriate measures to combat intolerance on the grounds of religion or other beliefs in this matter.”

Rules on clothing, such as prohibition of veils, violate several other rights

In the framework of the ICCPR, the Human Rights Committee has stated that norms on clothing “may involve a violation of a number of rights guaranteed by the Covenant, such as: article 26, on non-discrimination; article 7, if corporal punishment is imposed in order to enforce such a regulation; article 9, when failure to comply with the regulation is punished by arrest; article 12, if liberty of movement is subject to such a constraint; article 17, which guarantees all persons the right to privacy without arbitrary or unlawful interference; articles 18 and 19, when women are subjected to clothing requirements that are not in keeping with their religion or their right of self-expression; and, lastly, article 27, when the clothing requirements conflict with the culture to which the woman can lay a claim” (Human Rights Committee, General Comment #28, Equality of rights between men and women (article 3) CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.10, 29 March 2000, para. 13).

Closing Thoughts

I wouldn’t wear a burqa (or any other veil), but I would not deny anyone who’s cultural and religious identity is somehow linked to the right to wear it. Simply because in denying the right to express, I would be denying the right to be. Consistently with the message I have always tried to convey in this blog: expression, as a form of exteriorizing thought, is essential to social, cultural, and ultimately legal and democratic development. Just because we do not like what someone is saying to us through their words, actions, or even clothing, it does not give us the right to silence them or impose our ways upon them.

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