Switzerland votes against religious freedom
Amnesty International deeply regrets the choice of Swiss voters today to introduce a ban on the construction of minarets into the constitution. The ban, which takes immediate effect, violates both the freedom of religion of Muslims living in the country and the prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of religious belief as set out in several international human rights instruments that Switzerland is a party to.
"The yes vote comes as a surprise and a great disappointment. That Switzerland, a country with a long tradition of religious tolerance and the provision of refuge to the persecuted, should have accepted such a grotesquely discriminatory proposal is shocking indeed," said David Diaz-Jogeix, Europe and Central Asia Deputy Programme Director at Amnesty International.
"The general prohibition of the construction of minarets violates the right of Muslims in Switzerland to manifest their religion. It can do lasting damage to their integration."
Islam is the second largest religion in Switzerland after Christianity, and its followers represent over 4 per cent of the country's population.
The ban is expected to be rejected by either the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland or the European Court of Human Rights.
Comments
Sandy Beach | Posted on 2 December 2009, 10:18PM | Report comment
An Aboriginal friend of mine, went to a shop in Moorooka, which has been completely taken over by north africans. She was refused service in that shop, because the guy said she didn’t have the right skin colour. Whose rights do you look after?
Just because a country has taken a stand and said “we don’t want this here” is just because they have obviously had enough.
stephen mckay | Posted on 2 December 2009, 10:14PM | Report comment
Lastly, in response to the note about the European Court of Human Rights ordering the removal of crucifixes in Italian schools. The fact that crucifixes (not linked to Catholism was the rather weak argument here from the Italian government) were COMPULSORY in all Italian state schools actually breached the ‘religious pluralism’ section of the European charter of human rights that Italy officially signed up to! Maybe they should’ve read it all first, as my Chemistry teacher always advised during exams… Once again it proves necessary to remind a government of the promises they make.
Sandy Beach | Posted on 2 December 2009, 10:12PM | Report comment
A particular suburb of Sydney, which people paid a lot of money to live there, nice quiet leafy suburb. They didn’t want a mosque built in their area. So they went to their council with their overwhelming petition. They didn’t want their suburb ending up like Lakemba, or Bankstown. At that time there were no muslims living in their suburb. So it went to court and the council’s decision was overturned. So these people, who paid a fortune for their land, have now lost land value, their lifestyle, and are being chased out of that area. Whose rights do you look out for?
Ricky_lee Ricardo | Posted on 2 December 2009, 10:05PM | Report comment
Ignorant comments hey? Well I believe in freedom of speech,which is one of only a few rights we in the west still have. There are more important issues in the world than worrying about a few minarets. There are non-muslim people being persecuted in muslim countries every day, but there’s never any public outcry over that. Self righteous people like yourself are the ones that are making life difficult for millions in the western world, who now don’t have a voice as to what they want IN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES, or how they want to live, or else they are called racist. Personally I don’t care what design a church is built to, its the message that is inside the church that is the important thing. Not what the building looks like on the outside.
stephen mckay | Posted on 2 December 2009, 10:00PM | Report comment
And a note to Sandy Beach - “It seems to me, that other countries should mind their own business and let each country take care of their own internal affairs.” History lesson: We all kind of decided after the Nazis that that was a bad way to go about things. Sovereignty as a nation does not give you the right to mistreat your own citizens with impunity.
Sandy Beach | Posted on 2 December 2009, 09:53PM | Report comment
Right, so if what you’re saying is true, about amnesty making a public outcry about churches and crosses and so on, where was the outcry, when the EU told schools in Italy to take down crosses? Seems rules for one and not for the other!
stephen mckay | Posted on 2 December 2009, 09:50PM | Report comment
Can nobody talk some sense on these comments? The fact that muslims make up a small percentage of the population IS the key to this - it is MINORITIES that are routinely persecuted! However, to outline Amnesty’s approach in general, if a government told Christians that they couldn’t build their churches following a cross-shaped plan, or couldn’t put a cross at the top of the steeple (JUST a building design issue?), there would be uproar. And guess what? Amnesty would be criticizing THAT decision too. Equality for all. If you can’t see or appreciate that Amnesty are unbiased, then you shouldn’t be looking at this website, let alone leaving your ignorant comments.
Jenny Rochow | Posted on 2 December 2009, 08:22PM | Report comment
People are starving in the world, disadvantaged, homeless, living in war zones, oppressed, and you’re worried about a few minarets on the top of mosques! Get a grip.
Ricky-Lee Ricardo | Posted on 2 December 2009, 08:10PM | Report comment
So you’re saying that even though the majority of people out of 7 million, now can’t have a say in what they want in THEIR OWN COUNTRY, without other people, who have nothing invested in that country,are now telling those 7 million people what to do! So much for democracy, if people power means nothing any more. No human rights have been abused here. No-one has said they can’t practice their religion. There are over 120 mosques in switzerland to service 400,000 people. So where is their religious freedom not being allowed?
Sandy Beach | Posted on 2 December 2009, 07:58PM | Report comment
The sad part about your story above, is that actually believe that banning minarets, actually equates to the religious freedom. FFS this is just so much rubbish. Nobody is banning them from building a mosque, or from being able to attend a mosque, it is simply a ban on a building design. Get over it!!
Besides which, they are only 6% of the population of Switzerland, and yet making such a mountain out of nothing.
It seems to me, that other countries should mind their own business and let each country take care of their own internal affairs.
Why isn’t amnesty international crying foul at the number of churches being burnt or destroyed in non-muslim countries. This is a far more serious breech of human rights, than a building design.