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Assembly
for the
Protection of
Hijab
124 Harrowdene Rd, London HA0 2JF
Tel: 0044 (0) 208 908 9109
Fax: 0044 (0) 208 908 9108
www.prohijab.net
E-mail:
info@prohijab.net
29/6/2004
PRESS RELEASE
Pro-Hijab strongly condemns
European Court’s support
of Turkish headscarf ban
Assembly for the Protection of Hijab
(Pro-Hijab) was deeply dismayed to hear of today’s decision by the
European Court of Human Rights which has rejected the appeal of Leyla
Sahlin to sit her medical school exams at Istanbul University while
observing the Islamic code of dress (Hijab).
The court’s claim that the ban prevented
“certain fundamentalist religious movements from pressuring students
who do not practise the religion in question or those belonging to
another religion” thinly veils the reality of the situation which is
that the Turkish legal system is being used to unreasonably pressure
and prevent Muslim women in Turkey from exercising their Article 9
European Convention on Human Rights freedom to practise their
religion, in what is clearly an act of fundamentalist state religious
and sex discrimination.
Although it is not difficult to detect
anti-Muslim sentiment in various official European governmental
policies (for example the Hijab bans in France and Germany) it has
nevertheless been a shock – not only to Muslim women across Europe,
but also to everyone who holds dear the values of freedom and equality
that the people of Europe have struggled so hard to establish over the
years – to witness the European Court of Human Rights blatantly
subscribing to this discriminatory policy and utilising the rule of
law as a means of implementing tyranny rather than upholding justice.
Honi soit qui mal y pense.
It is extremely worrying to see such a
verdict coming from Strasbourg because it will inevitably undermine
many people’s trust in the European legal process, leading perhaps to
the conclusion that human rights are for everyone except Muslims. It
is indeed a disconcerting contradiction for a body established to
protect human rights and individual freedoms to rule in favour of a
ban that denies women even their most basic human right, the right to
dress as comfortably and as modestly as they choose. The precedent
that has been set by today’s decision is as disturbing as it is
unjust.
Assembly for the Protection of Hijab
regards this development as a confirmation that the way forward in
securing every Muslim woman’s basic human right to wear Hijab will be
to explore all possible avenues of peaceful campaigning in society,
politics and the media. Ultimately it will be the decision at a
grassroots level of millions of European Muslim women to wear the
Hijab which will prove official discriminatory policy not only
unnecessary and idiotic, but also simply unworkable.
“The recent disgraceful bans on the
headscarf in France and elsewhere in Europe are simply propped up by
today’s decision. Such developments in the judiciary will only
increase the determination of Europe’s Muslim women to make a stand
and defend their right to wear the Hijab – and force us to pursue the
cause through consistent and comprehensive campaigning,” said Mrs
Abeer Pharaon, Coordinator of Assembly for the Protection of Hijab.
While condemning this ruling in the
strongest terms, Assembly for the Protection of Hijab calls on all
women, both Muslim and non-Muslim, and on all those truly upholding
the principles of freedom and respect of human rights, both female and
male, to join hands in opposing this tyranny and erosion of basic
civil liberties.
Pro-Hijab does not call on the state and
the legal system to impose the headscarf – it calls on the state and
the legal system to secure the right to decide whether or not to wear
it and the freedom to act on that decision.
[Ends]
Notes for
Editors:
1- Assembly
for the Protection of Hijab (Pro-Hijab) was established by the Muslim
Women Society and the Muslim Association of
Britain and supported by
many Muslim and Non-Muslim Organisations mentioned in the Footnote. It
was officially launched on 14th June 2004 in the House of
Commons by Fiona Mactaggart MP and others. Drawing on a broad base of
support, its vision is to campaign nationally and internationally for
the protection of every Muslim woman’s right to wear the Hijab
(Islamic headscarf) in accordance with her beliefs and for the
protection of every woman’s right to dress as modestly as she pleases.
2- ProHijab
will be convening a conference - ‘Hijab: A Woman’s Right to Choose’,
kindly hosted by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and The Greater
London Authority on 12th July 2004 at City Hall. The
conference will bring together diverse spectrum of supporters from
Europe and Worldwide, generate discussion and draw up a plan of action
for the future of the campaign.
For interviews and more information
please contact our
media department on
07786257120
or 07947787222
or write to
info@prohijab.net
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