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.
Church and minarets coexist in other parts
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, condemns the decision by a clear majority of Swiss voters and 19 and one-half cantons to ban minaret building in Switzerland, and says he is “shocked”. The Swedish integration minister, Nyamko Sabuni, says the vote was “an abuse of the Swiss voting system”, while Tobias Billstroem, her colleague in charge of migration and asylum policy, says “there are certain things one does not put to a popular vote”. The French Minister of Immigration, Eric Besson, says that it is wrong to “stigmatize a religion, in this case Islam”.
In Switzerland itself the reaction ranges from incredulity to glee. The Swiss people expressed their fear, says Romandie News, a fear of Islamist terrorism and Muslim immigration, citing the French-language press.
Federal Councilor Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland’s Justice and Police minister Thursday called on voters to reject the anti-minaret proposal which will be put to them in a referendum 29 November, saying that it is unconstitutional and runs counter to Swiss values. Eveline Widmer Schlumpf told a press conference that the proposal, from the right-wing UDC of which she was once a member, does not respect Switzerland’s freedom of religious expression. She argues that this means not only that people are free to hold religious beliefs, but also to express them openly and publicly in appropriate places of worship.
