GENEVA (AFP) -
Voters in Switzerland's Italian-speaking region Sunday
slapped a ban on wearing full-face veils, a move condemned by the
country's Muslim community and Amnesty International.Results from a
referendum in the southern canton of Ticino showed that 65 percent of
the electorate backed a proposal to forbid the covering of faces in
public areas by any group.Echoing bans in France and Belgium, the
measure does not single out Muslims directly.It states that "no-one may
mask or hide their face on the public highway, nor in places open to the
public, except places of worship, nor those offering a public
service".But in a clear nod to the Islamic tradition of veils for women,
it adds that "no-one may require another person to cover their face for
reasons of gender".The measure was the brainchild of right-wing Ticino
populist party "Il Guastafeste" -- whose kingpin Giorgio Ghiringhelli
makes no secret of his criticism of Islam."This is an historic vote for
Ticino," Ghiringhelli told Switzerland's Italian-language broadcaster
RSI."And not just for Ticino, but also for Switzerland and abroad, where
the Ticino example could spread."It is the first time that any of
Switzerland's 26 cantons -- the equivalent of US states -- has imposed
such a ban.It will be anchored in Ticino's constitution, making it tough
to overturn, and local lawmakers will now have to craft legislation to
implement it and impose penalties on those who fail to respect
it.Reacting to Sunday's results, Switzerland's Central Islamic Council
slammed the vote as "yet another loud expression of social
Islamophobia"."We in the Council see this as part of a string of
attempts to make life increasingly difficult for Muslims in Switzerland
and to ban symbols of Islam from the public arena," it said in a
statement."It restricts the fundamental constitutional rights of Muslim
women without any pressing need or national legal basis."Leading human
rights group Amnesty International also condemned the vote."Fear, and
the creation of a problem where there isn't one, have beaten reason and
respect, to the detriment of the basic rights of the entire population,"
the head of Amnesty's Swiss section, Manon Schick, said in a
statement.She added that she hoped the Swiss parliament would speak out,
given that the right to religious freedom is inscribed in the country's
constitution.Referenda are the bedrock of Switzerland's system of
direct democracy, with citizen-campaigners able to force votes if they
collect enough signatures from voters.With 350,000 people, Ticino is one
of the smallest cantons in Switzerland, a nation of eight million.There
are some 400,000 Muslims in Switzerland, mainly for North Africa and
the Balkans.They represent five percent of the population of Switzerland
-- but an even lower proportion of just two percent in Ticino, the
Central Islamic Council said."This result underlines a certain degree of
disquiet in the population," said Swiss President Ueli Maurer.He
underlined that it came in the wake of a nationwide referendum in
November 2009 which led to a ban on the construction of new mosque
minarets beyond the four already built in the country.That referendum
was pushed heavily by Maurer's right-wing populist Swiss People's Party,
known for its anti-immigration stance.Switzerland faced a barrage of
international criticism following the 2009 vote
1 comMENTS:
The whole so called 'religion' should be outlawed! It is not a religion, it is an evil ideology. Europeans baulk at the thought of Nazi or Neo-Nazi, yet Islam makes the Third Reich look like the Boy Scout Movement, WAKE UP BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!!
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