Minaret ban is not just an image problem for Switzerland
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland risks being found non-compliant with its obligations under the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, according to the UN Committee of Human Rights. The committee voiced concern about the political campaign to ban minarets 3 November, and said then that the anti-minaret ban initiative, if adopted, would conflict with three articles of the treaty.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay says she “regrets” the anti-minaret vote in Switzerland, noting that such a ban is “discriminatory and deeply divisive” and risks putting Swiss law at odds with its international treaty obligations. She was speaking Tuesday 1 December after Sunday’s vote to ban the construction of minarets in Switzerland.
Pillay says she “hesitated to condemn a democratic vote” but condemns the “anti-foreigner scare-mongering” that preceded the vote, and that “politics based on xeonohobia or intolerance is disquieting wherever it occurs.” Pillay notes that the government was against the ban.
The Swiss government announced after the vote that it respects the results, pointing out that the existing four minarets are not concerned. The new law does not limit the future construction of mosques, the government underscores.
The government statement was released in Arabic as well as English and Switzerland’s official languages of French, German and Italian.
News story, GenevaLunch, 1 December 2009.
Filed under: International organizations
Tags: anti-minaret vote, International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights, minaets, Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
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One Response to “Minaret vote may run foul of international treaties”
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:10 am
How fascinating. How come we never heard Ms. Pillay express the same concerns regarding the ban to build churches and synagogues in Arab countries? Is she suffering from Alzheimer or from a terminal case of double standards? When Saudi Arabia and scores of other Muslim nations allow complete religious freedom in their countries, then maybe will it be time to revisit the banning of minarets (although they should never be allowed to be higher than church steeples and never be used by a muezzin for the call to prayers: that belongs to Muslim countries, not to Western ones, where bells will do very fine, thank you). To each is own.