Thread: French Senate Approves Ban on Burqas, Niqabs

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010, 6:42 P.M. ET.

French Senate Approves Ban on Burqas

By DAVID GAUTHIER-VILLARS

PARIS—France's Parliament banned the burqa, niqab and other full-body robes worn by some Muslim women, by passing a law forbidding people to conceal their faces in public.

The bill passed Tuesday after a final vote in the Senate, the upper house of Parliament, and is scheduled to come into force after a six-month observation period. It has already passed the National Assembly. At the Parliament's request, the law will be reviewed by France's Constitutional Council before it is formally promulgated.

"Showing one's face is a question of dignity and equality in our republic," said Justice Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie during Tuesday's debate in the Senate.

Journal Community
..The vote came as a number of European countries are trying to figure out how to reconcile the values of modern Europe with more assertive expressions of Islamic faith. Some countries, such as the U.K., have over the decades encouraged the expression of immigrant cultures and religions under the principle of multiculturalism.

But others have taken the position that it is more important for immigrants and their descendants to adopt the values of the country they have settled in. Switzerland, for example, banned the construction of minarets after a referendum last year. Belgium and Spain are discussing measures to outlaw the niqab.

The niqab, a head-to-toe garment thought to be worn by just 2,000 women in France—a country of 65 million people—is seen by many as an affront to French republican values. Some French politicians have said that active citizenship requires face-to-face communication. Others say full-body robes are a means of forcing women to be submissive.The burqa is "a sign of enslavement and debasement," President Nicolas Sarkozy said last year.

However, France's republican values also include freedom, which makes it problematic to outlaw niqabs and burqas, a similar garment. Before Mr. Sarkozy's government submitted the bill to lawmakers, France's highest administrative court, the Conseil d'État, or State Council, said an outright ban on burqas might not be compatible with the country's "international commitments on human rights."

The new law makes no reference to Islam and doesn't single out robes such as burqas or niqabs. It includes exceptions for people who need to cover up for work reasons, such as riot police, surgeons and welders, and for people wearing carnival costumes.

Several Muslim lobby groups had urged the French Parliament not to outlaw the burqa, saying such a prohibition would stigmatize France's six million Muslims, Europe's largest Muslim community.

Under the bill, the ban will apply to everyone in France, including visitors. Offenders will face a maximum fine of €150 ($193) and could be asked to attend courses on republican values. Individuals who encourage others to ignore the ban would face tougher penalties: up to one year in prison and a maximum fine of €30,000.

The law was passed by 246 votes to one, with most members of the opposition Socialist Party abstaining. Many Socialist Party lawmakers have said that they oppose the full-body veils, but that they would prefer to do so through dialogue and other means, not through legislation.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... TopStories

"Showing one's face is a question of dignity and equality in our republic," said Justice Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie during Tuesday's debate in the Senate.

How about security. When the women cover their faces, its hard to tell they're women..they look a lot like those masked terorrists. Heck, a terrorist could parade around in a women's dress and burka and carry out murder, but no one might suspect him in that burka. Get my drift?

The french goverment have more balls than our goverment wow