European court upholds French ban on face veils

The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday upheld a French law that prohibits Muslim women from wearing veils in public that cover their faces, after a woman argued that the measure violated her freedom of religion.

The ruling was the first of its kind since France enacted a law in 2011 that forbids anyone to hide his or her face in an array of public places, including on the street.

The court, based in the northeastern French city of Strasbourg, rejected the arguments of the French woman in her mid-20s, a practicing Muslim of Pakistani origin, whose name was not revealed to the court, according to French newspaper Le Figaro.

The plaintiff said she does not hide her face at all times but occasionally does in order to feel at peace with her faith, her culture and convictions. She stressed in her complaint that no one, including her husband, forced her to conceal her face, essentially rebutting one of the chief arguments lodged by opponents of the Muslim veil, known as the niqab, in France and internationally. 

The court ruled that the law's bid to promote harmony in a diverse population is legitimate and does not breach the European Convention on Human Rights.

Amar Zahiri, secretary general of the Association of Arab-Muslim Lawyers of Europe, agreed with the ruling, saying that facial coverings could potentially pose a security threat.

“Faces need to be uncovered going into banks and other businesses,” Zahiri said, explaining that criminals may use the veil to conceal their identities. “There can be a man behind the veil. The ruling is logical.”

Still, Zahiri feels the French law targets members of the Muslim community in a country ostensibly governed by the values of liberty, equality and fraternity.

“The law targets Muslims, because the Muslims are a large contingent [of European] society now, and people don’t want to face that for what it is,” he said.

Critics of the ban, including human rights defenders, contend the law not only targets Muslims but also stigmatizes Islam at a time when many say that fear-mongering by politicians jockeying for power has incensed nationalists across the country. France has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe, estimated at 5 million, making the issue particularly sensitive.

While some women in the international Muslim community wear facial coverings based on cultural practice and their interpretations of Islamic liturgy, many pious Muslim women choose not to wear facial or head coverings.

Al Jazeera and wire services