IARF
Position on Wearing of Religious Symbols
February
2004
International Association for Religious
Freedom
Position on
Wearing of Religious Symbols
Across Europe, there has been
much
debate about the
wearing of the Islamic hijab (and other
'ostentatious
religious symbols') at public schools and
offices.
Proposed legislation in France would ban
this
practice. The International Association for
Religious
Freedom
(IARF) takes the view that banning the wearing
of such symbols is a
violation
of an individual's
right to freedom of expression and religion.
The
circumstances for State involvement, as recognised in
U.N. and
European instruments, are very limited,
namely where "public safety,
health
or morals" are
endangered. Yet the proposed legislation deprives
the
individual of a fundamental human right without any
such
commensurate
justification.
Religious symbols are generally worn as an
expression
of a person's religious faith and often help them
to
identify
with the tenets and values of that
tradition. As such, they are
an
important expression
of that individual's right to manifest their
beliefs
as they choose. While the hijab (in the Muslim
faith)
has
been the focus of much of the media attention,
religious symbols also
extend
to the Sikh turban, the
kippa (Jewish skullcap), the bindi (mark on
Hindu
woman's forehead), the nun's habit, the crucifix, and
the
saffron
robe, among others. When individuals are
following the dictates of
their
religious traditions
in these ways, it is discriminatory for the State,
for
example not to allow an individual access to
education.
Such
discrimination on religious grounds
is a clear violation of
international
human rights
standards.
As set forth in Article 18 of the
Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, individuals have the
right to
manifest their religion or belief "in
teaching, practice, worship, and
observance." Hence,
there are only limited circumstances under
which
a
state would have the right to engage in any form
of 'oppressive
interference on the grounds of religion
or belief.' In the case of the
wearing of religious
symbols, these rights might
include:
· The State's right to
ascertain a person's
identity when crossing an international border,
or
when there is a reasonable suspicion that an illegal
act has
been, or
may be, committed;
· Employers'
rights to
ensure that clothing is
not dangerous, such as in a factory, or
unhygienic
in
a food or medical establishment, or otherwise
potentially
injurious to
the health of others;
· The State's
right
to ensure that lack of
clothing in public places is not offensive to
the
mores of society.
Some spurious reasons for state
intervention
have been
advanced. In this context, IARF asserts
that:
· Under no circumstances
should
persons, young
or old, exercising this freedom to wear
religious
symbols
be penalised by the State because others
choose to act towards them in
an
intolerant or hostile
way. This amounts to blaming the
victim.
· The fact that some
communities or individual
families require conformity of their members
to
dress
according to a particular interpretation of their
religious
traditions is a matter for those directly
involved, not the State.
Coercion
cannot be assumed.
· The State
may
cherish aspirations to promote
its ideals of social integration,
laicité
or
secularity but these remain nevertheless subject to
the
individual's
fundamental human rights.
· The
validity of the concept
of "conspicuousness" discriminates and is
not
definitive. Sikhs and Muslims cannot have turbans or
headscarves
which
are not "conspicuous signs".
In IARF's view, the principle of
'secularity', laicité
or the separation of Church and State is best
upheld
by the State's protection of each individual's right
to
practise
his or her religion in the public sphere,
which may involve the wearing
of
symbols as
interpreted from its scriptures or traditions.
The
State's
position should primarily be one of neutrality
which is logically
strengthened by the fact that it
does not interfere or discriminate in
the
exercise of
this fundamental right of the individual, as
guaranteed
by the
Article 18 of the United Nations'
Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.
International Secretariat 30th Jan
2004
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