Category Archives: Women

Banning the burqa compromises the very principles that we value

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The European Convention on Human Rights is the basis for our rights and freedoms. Crucially, it provides for freedom of expression, the right to protest, to stage controversial political theatre or to write an independent article. It also protects the right of individuals to choose their religious beliefs.

For this reason, I cannot support calls in the UK and across Europe to ban Muslim women from wearing the burqa or other garments that cover the entire body in public.

Have we become so arrogant as to believe that every woman who would wear a burqa is necessarily oppressed? Or so fearful that we see a potential terrorist behind women who cover themselves out of religious belief?

Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, in the Independent, 7 July 2010

French parliament to debate veil ban today

Posted on by Bob Pitt

France moves closer to banning the full-face veil today when its parliament begins debating a law that would outlaw the wearing of the burqa or the niqab anywhere in public. It is a measure that seems popular with the public. Polls suggest 70% back a ban.

The numbers that wear the full-face veil in France are tiny. Perhaps 2,000 and then the tourists from the Gulf, who like to shop in the luxury stores on the Champs Elysees.

The French government says this is not an argument about religion but about values. By adopting this legislation the French are insisting that those who live in France abide by their values. As the writers of the legislation say, hiding your face in public is “an offence to the nation’s values”. It violates the republican ideals of secularism and gender equality.

The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, said it was “a sign of debasement”. The Immigration Minister, Eric Besson, described the burqa as a “walking coffin”. The French Prime Minister, Francois Fillon, said Muslims who wear face coverings are “hijacking Islam” and provoking a “dark and sectarian image”.

Gavin Hewitt’s Europe, 6 July 2010

See also “French opposition to boycott vote on burqa ban”, AFP, 6 July 2010

Conservative parliamentary candidate rejects Hollobone’s ‘burqa ban’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

I fear that some of the sweeping statements made on the subject of the niqab and the burqa are actually thinly veiled (no pun intended) expressions of anti-Muslim sentiment and curtail the freedom of women in their choice to dress as they wish, despite claiming the contrary view. In stating that banning the burqa or niqab will empower women, it actually does just the opposite by dictating to them what they can and cannot wear. Philip Hollobone MP, in his speech on the subject reported on ConHome this week, made such a contradictory assertion.

His view that the woman he encountered in the park dressed in full burqa did not want any normal human interaction with anyone else is pure speculation, as is the view that she wears the burqa because she finds our society objectionable. He said: “In my view and that of my constituents, the burqa is not an acceptable form of dress and banning it should be seriously considered”. Was the woman he met in the park not one of his constituents?

Susan Williams, who was the Conservative parliamentary candidate in the Bolton West constituency, at ConservativeHome, 3 July 2010

Australian MP calls for bar on HT … and debate on banning the veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Michael JohnsonPreachers of Islamic extremism should be barred from Australia, a federal MP says. Michael Johnson, a lower house independent, has also called for a debate on banning the burqa.

He said Prime Minister Julia Gillard and his former boss, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, needed to repudiate the leadership of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a global Islamic group which wants Australian Muslims to reject democracy. “Join together and repudiate the extremism of this global movement and … guarantee that none of its international preachers ever receive a visa to step on to Australian soil again,” Mr Johnson said in a statement.

The release was issued in response to an article in The Australian which reported Hizb ut-Tahrir leaders urging participants in a western Sydney conference to join the struggle for a transnational Islamic state.

Mr Johnson said Australia’s Judeo-Christian heritage promoted inclusion, openness and transparency. “It is not our culture to exclude, nor is it one that aims to suppress women’s rights of equality, openness and full political participation,” he said. “Therefore, let us have a full and fearless debate on whether women should be required to wear the head to toe covering niqab, or the burqa.”

Mr Johnson’s comments make him potentially the most vocal Queenslander to criticise a minority group since Pauline Hanson said in her 1996 parliamentary maiden speech that Australia was in danger of being “swamped by Asians”.

AAP, 5 July 2010

Johnson evidently suffers from an irony by-pass. You’ll note that he calls for representatives of a peaceful if highly sectarian Islamist organisation to be denied entry to Australia, while simultaneously declaring that “it is not in our culture to exclude”. Clearly Australia’s “Judeo-Christian heritage”, is not without its contradictions.

Catalonia: veil ban motion defeated

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Catalonia’s parliament rejected Thursday a move to ban the wearing of the Islamic burqa in public places across the Spanish region after reversing an initial vote.

A resolution moved by conservatives and centre-right nationalists was passed, but opponents said there had been a technical error and some absentees at the moment of the vote.

After the session was suspended, the parliamentary speaker ordered the vote to be put again, prompting a walk-out by the motion’s supporters and a victory for its left-wing opponents.

The motion would have called on the government of the northeastern region to ban the Islamic women’s garment which conceals all but the eyes, in the street as well as in public buildings.

Right-wing deputy Rafael Lopez said it was a question of values, of voicing opposition to clothing which he said kept women in a “degrading prison.”

AFP, 1 July 2010

Veil bans spread in Catalonia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

There are no burqas on the streets of Tarrés. In fact, there are no Muslims at all in this village of 108 inhabitants in north-east Spain. But that will not stop the parish council debating whether to ban burqas and face-covering niqabs from parts of the village next week.

“It is true that there are no Muslims living in the village now, but this would be a preventive measure in case they come,” said parish councillor Daniel Rivera, from the tiny and openly xenophobic Partit per Catalunya.

Rivera’s motion to ban burqas has outraged many. Other councillors plan to vote against it, but whatever the result, the motion is symptomatic of wider moves in the Catalonia region to ban Islamic veils from public buildings.

Today the nearby provincial capital, Lleida, formally passed a ban that was first announced in May. Women found wearing burqas in public buildings will first be given a warning, but any repeat will lead to a fine of between €300 and €600 (£250-£500).

From Barcelona to Tarragona, bans are being slapped into place across the region. “At this rate we will end up with more bans than burqas,” said the immigration minister, Celestino Corbacho, himself a former town mayor in Catalonia.

The Lleida ban was not passed by the anti-immigrant parties but, as in Barcelona, by a socialist-led council. “This is about equality between men and women,” Mayor Ángel Ros said. “The burqa and the niqab are symbols of the political use of a religious dogmatism that had begun to appear in Lleida.”

Guardian, 2 July 2010

Catalan parliament postpones vote on Islamic veil ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Parlament de CatalunyaCatalonia’s regional parliament Wednesday postponed a vote on a motion to ban the use of the face-covering Islamic veil in public places, an issue that has sparked a debate throughout Spain.

Two conservative deputies had presented the motion under which Catalonia would “adopt the legal reforms necessary to ban the wearing of clothes that totally cover the face.” The ban would be in place “in public spaces as well as public buildings” throughout the northeastern region.

The motion said Catalan authorities “cannot remain on the sidelines of the European debate,” citing moves in both France and Belgium to ban the full-face Islamic veil.

The vote was on the parliament’s agenda for Wednesday but was postponed to a date that has yet to be announced, apparently due to backlog of business in the chamber.

AFP, 30 June 2010

Hollobone introduces veil ban bill

Posted on by Bob Pitt

One Conservative MP, Philip Hollobone, is hoping that Britain will follow Belgium and introduce a repressive ban on the niqab and the burqa. He will present his Private Members Face Coverings (Regulation) Bill in the House of Commons today. The Parliament website describes it as:

A Bill to regulate the wearing of certain face coverings; and for connected purposes.

The bill appears to stop short of calling for a full ban, although it would restrict the wearing of the full-face veil in public places such as banks, post offices and school entrances.

But Hollobone clearly views it as a first step and has previously made his support for a full ban clear. During a Commons debate on International Women’s Day he said:

The phrase that has been given to me time and again is, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” This is Britain; we are not a Muslim country. Covering one’s face in public is strange, and to many people it is intimidating and offensive. I seriously think that a ban on wearing the niqab or the burka in public should be considered.

Like other supporters of an illiberal ban, Hollobone has yet to provide a convincing answer to the point that those who complain that Islamist men tell women how to dress are doing precisely this by calling for a ban. On matters of sexual equality, Muslim women would be better served by the enforcement of existing laws against domestic violence than by the enactment of new laws restricting their dress.

The Staggers, 30 June 2010

See also “Tory MP launches first legal bid to ban burkha in Britain”, Daily Mail, 30 June 2010

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Spain: Amnesty urges politicians to reject veil ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Amnesty logoThe regional parliament in Catalonia is due to vote on a ban on the use of the face-covering veil and the burqa in public, fueling debates over the freedom of rights in the country.

The motion was put down by two conservative parliament members demanding that Catalonia “adopt the legal reforms necessary to ban the wearing of clothes that totally cover the face.” The ban is expected to be in effect in all public areas as well as public buildings throughout the northeastern region.

Meanwhile, one day ahead of the vote, human rights group Amnesty International called on Catalonia’s lawmakers to remove the motion.

“Any wide-ranging ban will violate the rights to freedom of expression and religion of those women who choose to wear a full-face veil as an expression of their identity or beliefs,” John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s expert on discrimination in Europe, said. “Women should be free to choose what and what not to wear. This is their right under international human rights law” he added.

The move by Catalonia comes as several other cities, including Barcelona, have approved bans on the use of the Islamic veil in public over the past weeks. Earlier on Monday, Coin – a small town in the southern region of Andalucia – was the first town outside of Catalonia to ban the veil in public buildings.

The banning measures come as the socialist government of Spain argues that the use of such body-covering garments is best opposed through education instead of imposing restrictions. Human rights activists, for their part, maintain that such a ruling would violate the European Convention on Human Rights, which is expected to guarantee the fundamental liberties of individuals.

Press TV, 29 June 2010

See also Amnesty news release, 29 June 2010

Another Spanish town bans the veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A small town in southern Spain on Monday became the latest municipality in the country to ban the use of the face-covering Islamic veil in public buildings.

The municipal council in Coin, a town of some 21,000 inhabitants in the Andalucia region near the city of Malaga, approved the measure by a large majority. The ban will be imposed in all public buildings, including schools and sports centres, but not in the rest of the town.

In recent weeks several municipalities in the northeastern region of Catalonia, including the city of Barcelona, have announced bans on the use of face-covering Islamic veils in public or are considering doing so.

Spain’s upper house of parliament last week also approved a motion calling on Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s socialist government to ban the use of the Islamic veil in public.

Earlier this month Justice Minister Francisco Caamano said the government planned to restrict the use of veils in public places under a proposed new law on religious freedom.

AFP, 28 June 2010